Canada November Factory Sales Surge 3.4%

Canadian manufacturing sales soared in November to a fresh high, easily surpassing elevated expectations, on a rebound in the auto sector and higher energy prices.

Factory sales surged 3.4% in November from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted record level of 55.47 billion Canadian dollars ($44.57 billion), Statistics Canada said Friday. The consensus among traders was for a 2% gain, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada. The last time manufacturing sales rose greater than 3.4% was in July, 2009, or just after the end of the recession triggered by the global credit crisis.

On a volume, or price-adjusted, basis, manufacturing sales increased 2.5% to C$47.91 billion, which marks the highest level since the 2008-09 crisis and recession.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2018 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)