Regional U.S. Manufacturing Readings Mixed While Canadian Manufacturing Sales Fall

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:

• Regional manufacturing readings were mixed in October. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general business conditions index rose 19 points to +10.7, its third positive reading in the last four months. New orders and shipments each increased, as did employment. Read the full report at this link. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s manufacturing index fell 36 points to -12.8, the survey’s lowest reading since April 2025. Twenty-five percent of firms reported decreases in general activity and the bank’s shipments index fell 20 points. One bright spot: the bank’s new orders index rose six points to +18.2. Read the full report at this link. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s manufacturing index for the Midwest region of the United States rose from +4 in September to +6 in October. Both durable and nondurable manufacturing activity grew slightly. Growth in the durable manufacturing sector was driven primarily by metal manufacturing. Additionally, most month-over-month indexes were positive except for new orders for exports and average work week. Read the full report at this link.
• Total manufacturing sales in Canada fell one percent from July 2025 to August 2025 due to lower sales in 12 of the 21 subsectors tracked. Sales of transportation equipment fell by the largest amount, dropping 5.7 percent, while primary metal sales increased the most, improving 3.6 percent. Total manufacturing sales were down one percent for the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
• Retail sales in Canada increased one percent to $70.4 billion from July 2025 to August 2025. Sales were up in six of nine subsectors and were led by a 1.8 percent increase in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers. Wholesale sales excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain declined 1.2 percent during the same period, meanwhile.
• In other economic news: Canada’s consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.1 percent from August 2025 to September 2025 and 2.4 percent from September 2024 to September 2025; the U.S. CPI rose 0.3 percent from August to September and three percent year-over-year; the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell from 55.1 in September to 53.6 in October.