-- An advance estimate of sales in the manufacturing sector indicates that total manufacturing sales increased 3.5% in March, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The largest increases were in the petroleum and coal product subsector and the transportation equipment subsector, it added.
StatsCan noted the March estimate was calculated based on a weighted response rate of 67.1%. The average final response rate for the survey over the previous 12 months has been 92.5%. As Statistics Canada continues to collect data for the March reference month, this advance indicator is subject to a higher revision rate than its regular monthly release, the agency said.