Canada’s manufacturing sales fall 2.8% in October

Canada’s manufacturing sales declined 2.8% to $71 billion in October, according to figures released Thursday by the country’s statistical agency. The market expectation for the figure was to show a decrease of 2.7%. Manufacturing sales for September was revised up from a gain of 0.4% to an increase of 0.7%. In October, 12 of 21 subsectors showed decreases in manufacturing sales. Sales of petroleum and coal products plummeted 10.3% to $9.1 billion in October, while machinery fell 6.6%, and computer and electronic products declined 15%, said Statistics Canada in a statement. On an annual basis, manufacturing sales decreased 1.5% in October, compared to the same month of last year.—AA