Manufacturing now faces an even greater challenge

Despite the rebound in sales volumes over the summer, Canada’s export-orientated manufacturing sector has struggled repeatedly to sustain any gains in over the past two years or so. Even though US manufacturing output is close to its pre-recession level, Canada’s manufacturing sales volumes remain 6% lower, despite the benefit of a massive decline in the Canadian dollar over the past 18 months. Unfortunately, with the US manufacturing sector now stagnating and global demand weakening, near-term growth prospects for Canadian producers looks even more challenging than before.