Capacity utilization in Canada's fabricated metal manufacturing sector suffered a sharp decrease in December compared to the previous month. PHOTO courtesy HGG Group.
The capacity utilization rate for the total Canadian manufacturing sector decreased from 79.1% in November to 75.3% in December.
That’s a 3.8% drop in capacity utilization, indicating a manufacturing sector that was less busy in December. While that’s to be expected given the holiday season’s impact on the month (the capacity utilization rate is not seasonally adjusted) December’s total was also down year-to-year. The good news is that the year-to-year drop was not substantial. Compared to December 2022, the drop was an insignificant 0.6.%.
Capacity utilization in the fabricated metal manufacturing sector suffered a sharper decrease than that experienced by the overall manufacturing sector. Capacity utilization in the fabricated metal manufacturing sector dropped from 78.1% in November to 71.3% in December, a 6.8% drop.
On a more positive note, the drop in capacity utilization for the fabricated metal manufacturing sector was not as steep when looked at on a year-over-year basis. It dropped by just 1% compared to December of 2022.
