The manufacturing sector contracted 1.7% in May following seven months of growth, as both durable-goods and non-durable goods manufacturing posted declines, Statistics Canada data shows.
Durable goods manufacturing decreased 1.7% in May, its first drop since September 2021, as contractions in motor vehicle and miscellaneous manufacturing more than offset gains in 6 of 10 subsectors.
Transportation equipment manufacturing decreased 5.1% in May as reduced activity at motor vehicle (-21.2%) and motor vehicle parts (-1.2%) manufacturing contributed the most to the contraction, affected by the ongoing semi-conductor chip shortage and retooling at some assembly plants.
The manufacturing contraction depressed real gross domestic product (GDP) in May, which showed no growth after a 0.3% expansion in April.
eal gross domestic product (GDP) was essentially unchanged in May, following a 0.3% expansion in April. However, Statistics Canada says that advance information indicates that real GDP did increase 0.1% in June with output in manufacturing resuming its positive growth trend.
