-- Total manufacturing sales rose 3.6% month over month to $71.2 billion in February, following a 3.1% month-over-month decline in January, said Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
February's gain was roughly in line with a 3.8% month-over-month consensus increase provided by MUFG.
Sales rose in 12 of the 21 subsectors, led by the transportation equipment (+18.8% month over month), machinery (+7.7%) and primary metal (+4.9%) subsectors, noted Canada's statistical agency. Those increases were partially offset by a 3.2% month-over-month decline in sales of chemical products.
On a year-over year basis, total manufacturing sales were down 1.7% in February.
In constant dollars, total manufacturing sales rose 3.4% month over month in February, while the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPPI) increased 0.4%.
Total inventories rose 0.6% month over month to $121.9 billion in February, driven by higher inventories of finished products (+1.4%) and goods in process (+1.0%), added StatsCan. Raw material inventories declined 0.3% during the same period.
The inventory-to-sales ratio declined from 1.76 in January to 1.71 in February. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Unfilled orders reached a record high, rising 2.3% month over month to $117.6 billion in February, driven primarily by higher unfilled orders for aerospace products and parts (+4.2% month over month), according to the Ottawa-based agency.