Canadian Manufacturing Sector Improves While U.S. Industry Contracts

Connecting the Dots monitors all major economic announcements in the United States and Canada, but the Metals Service Center Institute also offers industrial metals industry-specific data products that provide much deeper analysis and insight. Visit MSCI’s website and click on industry data to learn more about our Metals Activity Report (MAR), Momentum Monitors, and Macroeconomic Current.

Meanwhile, here are the major economic headlines from the last week:

• According to the Institute for Supply Management, economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in October for the eighth consecutive month. The organization’s purchasing managers index (PMI) registered 48.7 percent in October, a 0.4-percentage point decrease from September. New orders and production both fell while the gauge for employment improved.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI for Canada increased to 49.6 in October from 47.7 in September. The relatively better performance in October reflected noticeably slower declines in both production and new orders compared to September, S&P Global said. Production fell fractionally while new orders were down to the weakest extent since January and then only modestly.
• According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales in the country increased 3.3 percent from August 2025 to September 2025 to C$72.07 billion. Between September 2024 and September 2025, sales were up 27 percent.
• Orders of metalworking machinery fell 7.2 percent from August 2025 to September 2025 to $493.1 million. Orders were up 11 percent between September 2024 and September 2025, however. The Association for Manufacturing Technology also reported that orders from January to September 2025 equaled $3.93 billion, a figure that was up 17.3 percent above the January-September period in 2024. Read the full story at this link.
• According to Statistics Canada, in September, the total value of building permits issued in the country increased $504.8 million, or 4.5 percent, to $11.7 billion. Both the residential and the non-residential sectors contributed to the increase, rising 4.8 percent and four percent, respectively.
• In Canada, employers added 67,000 jobs in October, the second consecutive monthly increase, and the employment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 60.8 percent. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent, meanwhile. Prior to this decline, the unemployment rate had reached 7.1 percent in August and September, the highest level since May 2016 excluding 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full report at this link.
• The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.6 points in October to 98.2, but remained above its 52-year average of 98. The uncertainty index dropped 12 points from September to 88 and is now at its lowest level of 2025. Labor gaps remain a key concern. In fact, 32 percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill.