Details of the Canadian report on manufacturing sales for April:

  • Prior was +2.9% (revised to +2.7%)
  • Ex-autos -2.1% vs 1.9% prior (revised to 1.6%)
  • Unfilled orders -2.0%
  • Inventories +0.8%
  • It's the third decline in four months
  • Sales are down 7.3% from their post-recession peak in July 2014
  • The decline in April reflected lower sales of food, aerospace products and parts, and petroleum and coal products
  • Full report

So much for the weak Canadian dollar boosting manufacturing. USD/CAD is in a bit of a chop; it initially fell on the soft US Empire Fed but rebounded on this data point. More broadly, the Canadian dollar is lower.