A big boost in the production of aerospace products overshadowed an otherwise weak May for manufacturers, Statistics Canada said today.

The government agency said manufacturing shipments rose 0.3% to $50.9 billion in May.

The production of aerospace products and parts soared 79.8% to $1.6 billion in May, following a 36.6% drop in April.

However, outside of that area things weren’t quite so rosy.

Excluding aerospace products, manufacturing shipments dropped 1.1% in May, pulled down by the petroleum and motor vehicle industries.

StatsCan said refinery shutdowns for maintenance contributed to a substantial 6.7% drop in shipments of petroleum and coal products to $4.6 billion in May.

Also, motor vehicle manufacturers gave back all of April’s 2.7% gain as shipments fell by 5.2% to $5 billion, marking the third decrease in five months.