(Reuters) - Canadian factory sales edged down 0.3 percent in March from February, due mainly to weaker sales in the petroleum and coal products and chemical manufacturing industries, according to Statistics Canada data on Wednesday.
Overall, sales declined in 10 of 21 industries, representing approximately one-third of Canadian manufacturing. In volume terms, sales increased 0.2 percent.
Month/month change (pct)
March Feb(rev) Feb(prev) Sales -0.3 +2.8 +2.6 Sales ex-autos -0.5 +1.8 +1.8 Inventories -0.1 +1.1 +0.9 Unfilled orders -1.1 +0.2 +0.4 New orders -2.2 -2.8 -4.0 New orders ex-autos -2.8 -4.3 -5.5
March Feb(rev) Feb(prev) Inv/shipment ratio 1.39 1.39 1.33
NOTE: Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast on average an increase of 0.6 percent in the value of shipments in March from February. All figures are seasonally adjusted.
As of this release, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing (MSM) has published new estimates based on an updated survey sample as well as revisions to historical data. Estimates of sales of goods manufactured, inventories and orders have been revised back to January 2007 for seasonally adjusted data.
(Reporting by Alex Paterson; editing by Louise Egan)