Canada: Manufacturing PMI falls to 2-year low of 53.6 in December

"At 53.6 in December, down from 54.9 in November, the headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index signalled the weakest improvement in overall business conditions since January 2017," the IHS Markit announced on Wednesday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• A moderation in output growth to its slowest for two years was a key factor weighing on the headline PMI in December.
• Latest data indicated that new work from abroad was broadly unchanged in December, which ended a 12-month period of sustained expansion. 
• Manufacturers continued to add to their workforce numbers in December, but the rate of job creation slowed from the survey-record peak seen in the previous month.
• Input cost inflation eased to its lowest since August 2017.