Canada's manufacturing sales rise 0.4% in May

Canada's manufacturing sales rose 0.4% to reach $71.4 billion in May, according to figures released Monday by the country's statistical agency.

The market expectation for the figure was to show an increase of 0.3%.

The figure for April, meanwhile, was unrevised at an increase of 1.1%.

The increase in May was mainly driven by higher production in the aerospace product and parts industry group, which monthly gained 11.2%, said the Statistics Canada.

Those gains, however, were partially offset by sales of motor vehicles, and petroleum and coal products, which declined 4.2% and 2.2%, respectively.

Despite the monthly increase in May, total manufacturing sales were down 1.8% year-on-year, according to the agency.