Canadian manufacturing shipments edged down 0.6% to an estimated $49.7 billion in April after a strong gain of t3% in March, Statistics Canada reported today.

Excluding the motor vehicle parts and accessory industries, manufacturing shipments increased one% in April. At 1997 prices, which take constant-dollar measurement takes price fluctuations into account, shipments rose 0.5% to $45 billion.

Shipments declined in 12 of 21 manufacturing industries, representing about 51% of total output, StatsCan said.

Shipments of non-durable goods increased for the third straight month in April, rising 0.7% to $22.5 billion, while durable goods dropped 1.7% as shipments by automotive and aerospace products manufacturers slipped after a robust March.

The decrease in durable good shipments was only the second negative result in the last seven months.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales in May jumped by the largest amount in 16 months.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales surged by 1.4% last month, compared to April, double the increase that analysts had been expecting. Retail sales had fallen by 0.1% in April.

The May strength was widespread with auto dealers, department stores, specialty clothing stores and hardware stores enjoying an especially good month.

The strong showing caught analysts by surprise. They had been forecasting a more moderate rebound of 0.7%.

The 1.4% increase in May sales was the biggest one-month advance since a 3.3% surge in January 2006. It left sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$377.9 billion in May.