Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 0.5 per cent in August

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Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 0.5 per cent to $60.3 billion in August, helped by gains in the petroleum and coal sector and higher chemical sales.

The overall increase followed a decline of 1.2 per cent in July.

The increase came as petroleum and coal product sales climbed 7.3 per cent to $6.6 billion in August to reach their highest level since May 2019.

Chemical sales rose 6.3 per cent to a record high of $5.4 billion.

Meanwhile, the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips hurt the motor vehicle sector which saw sales fall 8.7 per cent to $3.0 billion in August and wood product sales dropped 17.1 per cent to $3.3 billion mostly due to lower softwood lumber prices.

Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollar terms rose 0.6 per cent in August, indicating a higher sales volume.