Statistics Canada Reports Manufacturing Sales up 0.7% in February at $71.6B

Manufacturing sales rose 0.7 percent to $71.6 billion in February, helped by higher sales of petroleum and coal, Statistics Canada said on April 15. The agency said manufacturing sales were up in 13 of the 21 subsectors it tracks as petroleum and coal sales rose 4.3 percent to $8.7 billion, helped by higher prices and to a lesser extent, volumes. Sales of electrical equipment, appliance and component products rose 12.6 percent to a record $1.5 billion in February. Meanwhile, sales of chemical products fell 5.5 percent to $5.3 billion in February as sales of pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemical products moved lower. Overall, manufacturing sales in constant dollars rose 0.1 percent in February....