Canadian manufacturers reported another gain in unfilled orders in April, the third in four months, Statistics Canada said today.

The government agency said “at the all-industry level, manufacturing shipments have essentially plateaued since October 2004, despite monthly volatility in some industries.

StatsCan said big ticket, durable goods industries contributed to a 1.1% boost in unfilled orders to $39.5 billion in April, after a 1.8% gain in March.

Overall, manufacturing shipments rose by 0.9% to $50.2 billion, partly recovering losses in February and March.

New orders were up 0.4% to $50.7 billion in April, following decreases in February and March, and inventories, which had been on a steady rise since January 2004, were unchanged at $64.5 billion in April, the highest level since November 2001.