Daily News

View All News

Canadian manufacturing index hits nine-month high

September 03, 2014

Canadian manufacturing business conditions expanded in August at the fastest pace since November 2013, according to the Royal Bank of Canada’s Canadian manufacturing purchasing managers’ index. August’s reading of 54.8 is up from July’s reading of 54.3 and indicated robust improvement in overall operating conditions across the manufacturing sector.

The RBC PMI is a monthly survey conducted in association with Markit, a financial information services company, and the Supply Chain Management Association.

Canadian manufacturers indicated a solid pace of job creation was maintained across the sector in August. The seasonally adjusted Employment Index registered above the 50.0 no-change value for the seventh consecutive month and the latest reading pointed to the steepest rise in staffing levels since September 2013.

“August’s survey provides an upbeat assessment of the Canadian manufacturing sector,” said Cheryl Paradowski, president and CEO of the Supply Chain Management Association. “Sustained output growth is driving a strong improvement in underlying business confidence, and in turn bolstering manufacturing job creation. There are signs that the resurgent U.S. economy is having an appreciable impact on export sales, as Canadian manufacturers saw one of the fastest rises in new orders from abroad so far this year.”

The RBC PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in more than 400 industrial companies.