Soaring industrial product prices and robust demand for resource-based goods offset declines in some of Canada’s key durable goods industries in 2007, according to a Statistics Canada report. Overall, there was little change in both the volume and value of manufacturing sales.
 
Manufacturers posted a modest 0.4% increase in sales to $613.4 billion, according to a year-end review, published in the Analysis in Brief series. In constant dollars, factory sales were essentially flat, following a lacklustre 2006 in which sales edged down.
 
Manufacturers had a mixed year in other respects in 2007. Employment fell by an estimated 55,300 jobs and total hours worked declined 2.9%. However, labour productivity in the sector …