Statistics Canada says that after four quarterly increases, the manufacturing sector took a breather during the second quarter of 2005, as measured by the amount of production capacity employed. The hiccup was attributed to lacklustre export growth, and a slowdown within the automotive and automotive parts makers.

All other industrial sectors showed healthy growth in the second quarter, boosting total use of industrial capacity to 86.7% between April and June, up from last year’s 86.5 per cent, and its highest level since the end of 2000.

Sectors showing strong growth included mining and oil and gas extraction, forestry, construction, and electricity production.

The agency defines an industry’s capacity utilization rate as “the ratio of its actual output to its estimated potential output.”