Canadian industries operated at 74.7% of their capacity in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 78.1 in the third quarter, Statistics Canada said Monday.

That’s the lowest capacity utilization rate since the government statistiscal agency began keeping records in 1987.

StatsCan said the fourth-quarter decline was driven mainly by weak domestic and foreign demand for manufactured goods. Transportation equipment manufacturing, construction and primary metal manufacturing accounted for more than half the decline.

Rates fell in 16 of the 21 major industries, notably manufacturing, construction, mining and oil-and-gas extraction, as well as electric power generation, transmission and distribution.

In the non-manufacturing group, only the forestry-and-logging sector posted a moderate increase.

For 2008 as a whole, the annual industrial capacity utilization rate fell to 77.8% from 82.1 in 2007, the lowest rate on record.

IE