Manufacturers are expecting less production and more job cuts in the months ahead as new orders continue to slump, Statistics Canada said today.

The government agency’s latest business conditions survey paints a picture of gloom among factory owners, especially in Ontario and Quebec.

The survey found 21% of manufacturers who responded planned to cut production in the final quarter of this year, while 16% planned to boost it.

“Lower global demand and factory prices contributed to diminished prospects in some industries, led by producers in the plastics and rubber products, primary metal, wood product and paper industries,” Statistics Canada said.

Almost a quarter of manufacturers (23%) said the level of new orders was falling. Only 10% said their order book was bigger. The difference in those two figures (-13) amounted to a 17-point drop from the July survey. Statistics Canada said that was the largest quarter-to-quarter drop in almost six years.

On a regional basis, manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec were the most pessimistic about future employment levels in their companies. But it was the reverse in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, provinces where manufacturers were reporting difficulty in attracting skilled labour.

In the past year, Statistics Canada says, 69,800 manufacturing jobs have disappeared in Canada. Most of those losses have taken place in Central Canada as exporters struggle with a high Canadian dollar.