Manufacturing sales in Canada declined 3.6% to $71.5 billion in February amid a slump in sales of petroleum and coal products.
Statistics Canada said the decline followed an upwardly revised 4.5% increase in manufacturing sales during January. The initial reading for January had been a gain of 4.1%.
In February, 12 of 21 manufacturing industries tracked by Statistics Canada declined.
Sales of petroleum and coal products led the decrease, falling 14.9% to $8.8 billion.
Sales of motor vehicles decreased 12.3% to $4.2 billion in February and primary metals dropped 4.2% to $5.6 billion.
On the flip side, sales in the machinery industry rose 3% to $4.6 billion during February.
In constant dollars, manufacturing sales decreased 2.4% during February, according to Statistics Canada.
