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Manufacturing activity at a new high

Alberta’s manufacturing sales jumped by $307 million in November

By Siddhartha Bhattacharya, ATB Economics

Factory sales in Alberta posted solid gains in November. The value of seasonally adjusted manufacturing shipments jumped by $307 million (+4%) to reach $7.6 billion, the highest level on record.

Sales in 11 of the 21 sub-sectors increased, with refined petroleum products (+10%) driving over half the total monthly increase. The second largest contributor was food manufacturing (+3%), which alone offset declines experienced in machinery (-7%) and chemicals (-1%).

On an unadjusted basis, Alberta’s manufacturing shipments were up by $18 billion (+30%) over the first eleven months of 2021. This was third highest (on a percentage basis) among all provinces and dwarfed the 17% year-to-date recorded nationally over the same time frame.

Canadian factory sales were up by $1.6 billion (+2.6%) for the month, largely attributable to gains in transportation equipment (+5%) and primary metals (+6%) manufacturing products.