(Adds details from report)
OTTAWA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Canadian manufacturing sales
jumped for the third consecutive month in July, driven by
increased sales in the motor vehicle parts and assembly
industries, data from Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday.
Factory sales rose 1.7 percent, exceeding economists'
expectations for a gain of 1.0 percent. Figures for May and June
also were revised higher. In volume terms, sales rose 1.1
percent in July.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Graphics:
Canadian manufacturing sales: http://link.reuters.com/nem27s
Canada economic dashboard: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/sc-canada/index.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Higher sales in vehicles and parts accounted for nearly
two-thirds of the overall increase. Parts sales surged 12.1
percent, while sales in the vehicle assembly sector rose 5.6
percent. Scheduled shutdowns at North American assembly plants
were shorter in July than in previous years.
The rise in sales in the vehicle industries helped bolster
overall sales in the province of Ontario. But sales fell in
Alberta, where the country's oil sands are located, partly as
the machinery products industry was weighed by lower sales of
mining, and oil and gas field machinery.
New orders climbed 10.2 percent on more orders in the
aerospace industry.
The shock from the sharp drop in oil prices put the Canadian
economy in a mild recession in the first half of the year, but
recent data has suggested it entered the third quarter on firmer
footing.