Mixed Results For Canadian Manufacturing In May

Canadian-made aerospace products saw a major improvement in shipments in May, while the rest of the industry showed lackluster numbers, according to Statistics Canada.

Manufacturing shipments rose 0.3 percent to $50.9 billion in May and the production of aerospace products and parts soared 79.8 percent to $1.6 billion, following a 36.6 percent drop in April.

When aerospace is excluded from the statistics, shipments dropped 1.1 percent due to poor performance in the petroleum and motor vehicle industries.

Manufacturers of primary metal products also had positive numbers in May due to the high demand for copper, nickel, zinc and aluminium. Global demand and low inventories have contributed to record prices. In May, the price of primary metals jumped 6.8 percent and have risen 21 percent since the end of 2005.

For the second month in a row, unfilled orders dropped. The backlog of orders fell 0.7 percent to $42.4 billion, slowing from April's drop of 1.1 perecnt.