Canadian July factory sales hit record, beat forecast

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian manufacturing sales rose by a faster-than-expected 2.5 percent in July from June to a record, with the makeup of the increase suggesting the U.S. recovery was aiding the sector, Statistics Canada data indicated on Tuesday. The level of sales hit a seasonally adjusted C$53.66 billion ($48.78 billion), eclipsing the C$53.22 billion record set in July 2008. The volume of sales, important for real economic growth, rose 2.8 percent in July. Analysts expected a month-on-month increase of only 1.0 percent. Statistics Canada also revised its June increase up to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent. Sales are now 8.2 percent higher than a year earlier, the highest rise since June 2012. July's gain was largely due to the auto, aerospace and primary metals industries. The biggest dollar jump was in the motor vehicle and parts industries, in the amount of C$634 million, much of whose production goes to the United States. Statistics Canada had reported a jump in Canada's trade surplus in July as exports advanced 1.4 percent, led by a C$605 million increase in motor vehicles and parts. The Bank of Canada has long been looking for a rotation in demand from Canadian consumers to exports and business investment. (Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)