Canadian Manufacturing Sales Up Over 10% in May, Still Down 28% Since Pandemic - Report

TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Canadian manufacturing sales rose by more than 10 percent in May but still remain a ways off prepandemic levels, the Federal statistics agency said in its Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for May 2020.

"Manufacturing sales increased 10.7% to $40.2 billion [$29.77 billion USD] in May following a record 27.9% decline in April, as many manufacturers resumed operations following full or partial shutdowns related to COVID-19 during the previous month," Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.

"Nevertheless, total manufacturing sales in May were 28.4% below their pre-pandemic level in February."

The survey also found that more than four-fifths - 80.9 percent - of manufacturers reported disruptions to their operations triggered by the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The report found that miscellaneous, printing, clothing and furniture manufacturers were impacted the most.

Statistics Canada said that 24.3 percent of businesses said that they have a recovery plan in place.