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Strong Demand Keeps Production Running at Elevated Utilization Rates
Manufacturing extended gains in early summer. Manufacturing sales continued to recover in June, building on the upward momentum since February. While headline sales rose modestly by 0.1 per cent, growth was dampened by a 1.4 per cent decline in industrial product prices, largely reflecting lower global oil prices. In real terms, manufacturing sales increased a robust 1.2 per cent, supported by stronger shipments of chemical, primary metal, computer, and electronic products. The drop in global oil prices after Middle East tensions temporarily eased caused petroleum and coal product shipments to fall 6.1 per cent, the largest drag on manufacturing. Excluding this category, real sales rose a more robust 2.1 per cent — the strongest monthly gain since February.