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Monthly Survey of Manufacturing
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Manufacturing sales edged up 0.1% to $42.6 billion in November, as gains in several industries were offset by decreases in the transportation equipment industry. This was the fifth increase in manufacturing sales in six months.
Sales gains in chemical manufacturing and in petroleum and coal products were offset by declines in the aerospace product and parts and motor vehicle industries.
Constant dollar manufacturing sales decreased 0.8% in November. This was the first decrease in constant dollar sales in three months. Even with the recent advances, constant dollar manufacturing sales were 8.4% below November 2008.
Sales advanced in 12 of the 21 manufacturing industries, accounting for about 57% of total sales.
Non-durable goods industries behind most of the sales gains
Most of the sales gains for November were in non-durable goods industries, which increased 1.0% compared with October.
Sales by chemical manufacturers advanced 5.3% compared with October. About one-third of the gain was a result of rising pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing sales.
Sales by the petroleum and coal product industry rose 2.9% in November, the third increase in four months. Sales in this industry were pushed up by higher prices, which increased 4.7% from October.
The transportation equipment industry offset most of the sales gains in November, declining 4.3%. Production in the aerospace product and parts industry pulled back 15.4% after a 48.2% jump the previous month. Motor vehicle sales were also down, decreasing 4.5% after two months of gains.
Provincial results were mixed
Half of the provinces posted increased sales in November. The largest gain was in New Brunswick, where manufacturing sales advanced 15.2% in November. This was the second monthly increase after a 26.1% drop in September.
Note to readers
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise specified.
Preliminary data are provided for the current reference month. Revised data, based on late responses, are updated for the three previous months.
Non-durable goods industries include food, beverage and tobacco products, textile mills, textile product mills, clothing, leather and allied products, paper, printing and related support activities, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, and plastics and rubber products.
Durable goods industries include wood products, non-metallic mineral products, primary metals, fabricated metal products, machinery, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, appliances and components, transportation equipment, furniture and related products and miscellaneous manufacturing.
Production-based industries
For the aerospace industry and shipbuilding industries, the value of production is used instead of sales of goods manufactured. This value is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured.
Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales assuming that the orders are not cancelled.
New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month.
Alberta continued to report stronger manufacturing sales in November, with rising sales in the past four months. These increases were largely attributable to petroleum and coal product sales, which reached the highest level for the province since October 2008.
Sales in Quebec advanced 0.6% in November, despite a 10.6% drop in transportation equipment sales. Petroleum and coal products (+5.2%) and primary metals (+4.9%) led the provincial gains.
Manufacturing sales in Newfoundland and Labrador fell 9.1% compared with October, mostly due to weaker sales of non-durable goods. Manitoba also reported lower sales for November, decreasing 2.9%.
Table 1
| Nov. 2008 | Oct. 2009r | Nov. 2009p | Oct. to Nov. 2009 | Nov. 2008 to Nov. 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change1 | ||||
| Canada | 47,331 | 42,535 | 42,591 | 0.1 | -10.0 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 393 | 417 | 379 | -9.1 | -3.4 |
| Prince Edward Island | 100 | 113 | 108 | -4.7 | 7.5 |
| Nova Scotia | 815 | 754 | 767 | 1.7 | -5.9 |
| New Brunswick | 1,009 | 1,055 | 1,215 | 15.2 | 20.4 |
| Quebec | 11,852 | 11,123 | 11,188 | 0.6 | -5.6 |
| Ontario | 22,094 | 19,519 | 19,355 | -0.8 | -12.4 |
| Manitoba | 1,339 | 1,182 | 1,148 | -2.9 | -14.3 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,020 | 866 | 885 | 2.2 | -13.2 |
| Alberta | 5,495 | 4,692 | 4,757 | 1.4 | -13.4 |
| British Columbia | 3,209 | 2,808 | 2,785 | -0.8 | -13.2 |
| Yukon | 3 | 3 | 3 | -1.7 | -0.5 |
| Northwest Territories and Nunavut | 2 | 1 | 1 | -15.7 | -38.1 |
Inventories edge down in November
Inventory levels declined 0.3% in November to $59.7 billion. This was the 10th decrease in 12 months, moving inventories 12.2% lower than November 2008 levels.
Inventory levels contracted in 16 of 21 industries, led by a 3.4% drop in the transportation equipment industry. Aerospace product and parts inventories were behind most of that decrease.
Non-durable goods inventories rose 1.4%, despite decreases in 7 of 11 industries. The increase was led by a 10.0% rise in petroleum and coal product inventories, partly reflecting higher prices compared with October.
The inventory-to-sales ratio declined for the fifth time in six months, edging down to 1.40. The decline in November was largely the result of lower inventory levels, pushing the ratio to its lowest level since October 2008 (1.34).
The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Unfilled orders decline
Unfilled orders declined in November for a fifth consecutive month, down 1.4% to $51.5 billion. This marked the lowest level since March 2007.
The decrease in the backlog of orders was led by machinery (-3.0%) due to a major plant closure at the end of October. Aerospace product and parts (-2.6%) also contributed to the decline.
Excluding the aerospace industry, unfilled orders edged down 0.2% in November.
New orders increased by 3.2% in November to $41.9 billion, reversing a 2.2% drop in October. This was the third gain in four months.
Available on CANSIM: tables 304-0014, 304-0015 and 377-0008.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2101.
Data from the December Monthly Survey of Manufacturing will be released on February 16.
For more information, or to order data, contact the dissemination officer (toll-free 1-866-873-8789; 613-951-9497; fax: 613-951-3877; manufact@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Elton Cryderman (613-951-4317, elton.cryderman@statcan.gc.ca), Manufacturing and Energy Division.
Table 2
| November 2008 | October 2009r | November 2009p | October to November 2009 | November 2008 to November 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change1 | ||||
| Manufacturing sales (current dollars) | 47,331 | 42,535 | 42,591 | 0.1 | -10.0 |
| Manufacturing sales (2002 constant dollars) | 42,149 | 38,914 | 38,616 | -0.8 | -8.4 |
| Total inventories | 67,946 | 59,856 | 59,668 | -0.3 | -12.2 |
| Unfilled orders | 71,238 | 52,217 | 51,498 | -1.4 | -27.7 |
| New orders | 48,011 | 40,564 | 41,872 | 3.2 | -12.8 |
| Inventory-to-sales ratio | 1.44 | 1.41 | 1.40 | ... | ... |
Table 3
| November 2008 | October 2009r | November 2009p | October to November 2009 | November 2008 to November 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major group of industries | Seasonally adjusted | ||||
| $ millions | % change1 | ||||
| Food manufacturing | 6,634 | 6,921 | 6,859 | -0.9 | 3.4 |
| Beverage and tobacco product | 863 | 849 | 855 | 0.8 | -0.9 |
| Textile mills | 154 | 130 | 124 | -4.4 | -19.6 |
| Textile product mills | 172 | 141 | 139 | -2.0 | -19.3 |
| Clothing manufacturing | 236 | 186 | 190 | 2.0 | -19.5 |
| Leather and allied product | 36 | 33 | 33 | -0.8 | -9.3 |
| Wood product | 1,698 | 1,412 | 1,439 | 1.9 | -15.2 |
| Paper manufacturing | 2,372 | 2,075 | 2,102 | 1.3 | -11.4 |
| Printing and related support activities | 842 | 777 | 747 | -3.9 | -11.4 |
| Petroleum and coal product | 5,304 | 5,376 | 5,533 | 2.9 | 4.3 |
| Chemical | 3,831 | 3,424 | 3,606 | 5.3 | -5.9 |
| Plastics and rubber products | 1,779 | 1,679 | 1,620 | -3.5 | -8.9 |
| Non-metallic mineral product | 1,241 | 1,106 | 1,183 | 7.0 | -4.7 |
| Primary metal | 3,906 | 2,982 | 3,074 | 3.1 | -21.3 |
| Fabricated metal product | 3,145 | 2,366 | 2,378 | 0.5 | -24.4 |
| Machinery | 2,715 | 2,097 | 2,098 | 0.1 | -22.7 |
| Computer and electronic product | 1,648 | 1,431 | 1,414 | -1.2 | -14.2 |
| Electrical equipment, appliance and component | 905 | 749 | 752 | 0.4 | -16.9 |
| Transportation equipment | 7,929 | 7,036 | 6,733 | -4.3 | -15.1 |
| Motor vehicle | 3,802 | 3,629 | 3,466 | -4.5 | -8.8 |
| Motor vehicle body and trailer | 286 | 219 | 226 | 3.0 | -21.2 |
| Motor vehicle parts | 1,833 | 1,603 | 1,634 | 1.9 | -10.9 |
| Aerospace product and parts | 1,495 | 1,224 | 1,035 | -15.4 | -30.8 |
| Railroad rolling stock | 126 | 56 | 65 | 16.1 | -48.6 |
| Ship and boat building | 94 | 107 | 99 | -8.1 | 5.4 |
| Furniture and related product | 996 | 873 | 887 | 1.5 | -10.9 |
| Miscellaneous manufacturing | 926 | 891 | 825 | -7.4 | -10.9 |
| Non-durable goods industries | 22,222 | 21,591 | 21,808 | 1.0 | -1.9 |
| Durable goods industries | 25,109 | 20,943 | 20,783 | -0.8 | -17.2 |
