Canadian industries slightly increased the use of their production capacity during the first quarter of 2007, ending four straight quarters of decline, Statistics Canada reported today.

Separately the government agency said the cost of new housing rose substantially in April from the previous month.

Capacity utilization edged up to 83% from 82.4% in the fourth quarter of 2006. The industrial capacity utilization rate is the ratio of an industry’s actual output to its estimated potential output.

Production rose slightly in the large manufacturing sector, but capacity use remained unchanged, tempering the first-quarter increase.

Gains in production in February and March were just enough to offset the substantial decline in production in the manufacturing sector in January, when automotive production plunged by almost 12% due to declining demand for light-duty motor vehicles and heavy trucks.

Three other sectors — forestry and logging, mining and oil-and-gas extraction, and electric power — posted good results, and together accounted for the increase in industrial capacity use in the first quarter, while ntonly sector to post a lower rate in the first quarter was construction.

Meanwhile, the cost of new housing rose substantially in April, rising 0.8% from the previous month, StatsCan reported.

Contractors’ selling prices were up 8.9% from a year earlier as 12 of 21 metropolitan areas surveyed registered increases. Edmonton led all monthly increases, at 4.4%, as well as annual increases, at 40.5%.