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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Lower production, product inventory levels increasing, and employment down. That, does not sound good to me


The latest from BC Stats (June 15th) shows a possible reason for falling employment in British Columbia last month.  Using information from Stats Canada (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180615/dq180615b-eng.htm), BC Stats reported that manufacturing sales (seasonal adjusted) dropped in April, compared to the month before.  The drop was 1.3%, to $56.2 billion ... this was the first drop following two months of increases.

That said, in that one sector of the Canadian economy alone, sales were down in 10 of 21 industries -- and sales were down a whopping 49.6%.  Leading the way was sales of transportation equipment manufacturing (-15.2%). In addition, large decreases were seen in the sale of electrical equipment, appliance and components (-8.1%) as well as non-metallic mineral product manufacturing (‑7.7%).

Averaged across Canada, the sale of manufactured goods saw a decline of 1.3% in April compared to the previous month of March.  Sales in the petroleum and coal products and transportation equipment accounted for much of that decrease.

The report went on to state :
Manufacturing sales were down in six of the provinces, with the largest provincial decreases observed in Prince Edward Island (-8.6%) and Alberta (-5.3%). Meanwhile, Saskatchewan (+6.7%) and Nova Scotia (+3.4%) saw the leading percentage growth rates in the month.

Inventory Levels Increase (Seasonally Adjusted)
SOURCE: Table 16-10-0047-01
The Stats Canada report also showed what to me should be a bit of a cause for concern ... inventory levels (of product) rose 2.2% in April to $81.2 billion, a seventh consecutive monthly increase. The largest inventory increase occurred in the petroleum and coal products industry (+6.6%). Inventory levels also rose in the transportation equipment (+2.2%), machinery (+3.7%) and food products (+2.9%) industries.

As I reported in my post from June 12th:
"In British Columbia, employment fell by 12,000 in the month, according to Stats Canada.  For the first time since May 2015, employment in British Columbia recorded virtually no growth on a year-over-year basis, the agency notes in a report."

Checking for myself, the June 8th Issue 18-102 Labour Force Statistics confirms, and I quote ... "There were 16,000 fewer full-time jobs in May, while 3,600 part-time jobs were added since April."


What am I seeing?  Lower production, product inventory levels increasing, and employment down.  That, does not sound good to me.

I'm Alan Forseth in Kamloops.  The floors yours now, so feel free to comment below.
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