OTTAWA (Reuters) – Manufacturers saw sales slip 1.3 percent in April, as expected, as the Japanese tsunami cut off supplies to the auto industry, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
The median forecast of analysts surveyed by Reuters was for a 1.3 percent decline in sales at the factory gate as the economy enters a soft patch following vigorous first-quarter growth.
The decline reversed much of the 1.9 percent gain in March. Total sales at C$46.7 billion have recovered to the levels of late 2008 at the start of the recession, but remained below the July 2008 peak of C$53 billion.
The biggest drag on April sales came from a 7.8 percent drop in the transportation equipment sector. Motor vehicles and parts producers suffered steep sales declines due to supply disruptions arising from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Excluding autos, sales fell 0.5 percent.
Sales also fell significantly in the energy and aerospace sectors.
Inventories and unfilled orders were both at two-year highs, expanding 1.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. New orders tumbled 10.3 percent, almost eclipsing the 11.5 percent increase in the previous month due to weaker orders for aerospace products.
(Reporting by Louise Egan and Howaida Sorour, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
No comments:
Post a Comment