Manufacturing sales inch down to $52.1 billion in August

Canadian manufacturing sales declined by 0.2 per cent to $52.1 billion in August, the first monthly decline after three consecutive months of growth.

The biggest declines came in the petroleum and coal product, motor vehicle parts, and aerospace product and parts industries, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

All in all sales were lower in eight of the 21 industries that the data agency tracks.

One major exception was the motor vehicle assembly industry, which rebounded from plant shutdowns in July to increase 6.7 per cent to $5.7 billion.

That's the highest salesfor Canada's motor vehicle assemblyindustry sinceMarch2007.

Sales declined in five provinces in August, with Quebec, Alberta and New Brunswick posting the largest decreases. Higher sales in Ontario largely offset these declines.