Source: Statistics Canada

After holding steady in October, manufacturing sales increased by 1.1% in November. Sales improved by $573 million to $50.6 billion. Almost all of the increase in manufacturing was the result of a surge in petroleum and coal product sales during the month, which benefited from sharply rising prices.

Using constant dollars, the volume of manufacturing sales remained largely unchanged in November, edging down 0.1% compared with October. Rising prices played a significant role in increasing the total value of sales, as the Industrial Product Price Index rose for the first time in seven months (+0.6%). Constant dollar measurements take price fluctuations into account, providing an indicator of the volume …