April marked the first full month of physical distancing measures amid the outbreak of COVID-19 and manufacturing plants operated at limited capacity or ceased operations completely.
Sales fell in all 21 industries, led by sharp drops in the transportation equipment and petroleum and coal product industries.
In volume terms, manufacturing sales fell by a record 26 percent, indicating that a much lower volume of products was sold in April.
More than 85 percent of establishments in the manufacturing sector reported that their activities were impacted by COVID-19. The manufacturing sector as a whole was operating at just 56 percent capacity.
Sales in the transportation equipment industry fell by over three-quarters to 1.9 billion Canadian dollars in April, the largest decrease on record.
The fall was led by sharp declines in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industries, which plummeted by 97.5 percent and 88.1 percent respectively.
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