An increase in transportation equipment sales lifted the fates of Canadian manufacturing as a whole in December 2009, which rose 1.6 per cent to hit $43 billion, according to Statistics Canada.
Of the eight provinces which saw stronger sales in December, Ontario led the pack. A $438-million increase lifted total sales to $19.8 billion, stemming from primary metal, motor vehicle and miscellaneous manufacturing industries. This marks a 2.3 per cent increase over the previous month, and a 1.1 per cent increase over the total seen in December 2008.
Canada-wide, the non-metallic mineral product industry saw a 6.4 per cent decline. The primary metals industry saw a 1.8 per cent increase to hit $3.1 billion, though this was down 6.6 per cent from December 2008.
The wood products industry sales dipped by 1.4 per cent from the previous month to hit $1.4 billion, a total which sits 6.5 per cent lower than in December 2008
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