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Manufacturing sales fell 9.2% in March as factories closed due to the pandemic
Canadian manufacturing sales posted their biggest percentage drop since the financial crisis in March and economists warned sales are expected to continue to fall in April as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the economy to a crawl.Royal Bank senior economist Nathan Janzen said Thursday that the economic data will also likely get significantly worse in April with containment measures in place for the entire month.“Beyond that, we could see some improvement in May already with social/distancing measures easing in spots, but the drop in activity in March and April is still likely to be staggering, and entirely unprecedented in modern measured economic data,'' Janzen wrote in a brief note.Statistics Canada reported Thursday manufacturing sales fell 9.2% to $50.8 billion in March, the lowest level since June 2016, as factories shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic or faced sharply lower demand.The average estimate by economists was for a drop of 5.7%, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.In volumes terms, manufacturing sales fell 8.3%.Sales fell in 17 of 21 industries led by the transportation equipment industry which plunged 26.5% in March as Canadian auto assembly plants and several parts suppliers in North America cut production.
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Canadian retail sales fell 10% in March, April expected to be worse
Statistics Canada says retail sales in Canada posted their biggest monthly decline on record in March and warned that the drop for April will eclipse that loss.The agency says retail sales fell 10.0% to $47.1 billion in March as non-essential businesses began to shut their doors mid-month due to the pandemic.The drop was in line with economists' expectations of 10 per cent, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.Statistics Canada also says a preliminary estimate for April indicates a 15.6% drop for the first full month of the pandemic.The March decline came as sales plunged at motor vehicle and parts dealers, clothing and clothing accessories stores and gasoline stations, while sales at grocery stores soared.Excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales were down 0.4% for the month.
