RBC Financial Group reports the Ivey Purchasing Managers Index remained largely unchanged in June at 56.5.

RBC says that the reading was slightly lower than the market’s expectation of 57.3. “Although the index is a sometimes volatile and somewhat unreliable indicator, it does support information conveyed in other recent economic releases – quite simply, the Canadian economy is accelerating at mach speed,” says RBC.

RBC points out that the employment component of the index increased strongly for the second consecutive month, “essentially confirming Friday’s labour force data”.

It also says that the inventory index fell sharply however, from 49.3 to 42.8. “The drop suggests inventory shedding brought on by accelerating demand.”