Manufacturing sales declined 0.3% to $55.5 billion in December, following a revised increase of 3.8% in November. The decline was mainly the result of lower sales in the petroleum and coal products industry and the food manufacturing industry.

Overall, sales were down in 11 of 21 industries, representing 57.0% of the manufacturing sector. Sales of non-durable goods decreased 1.3%, while sales of durable goods rose 0.7%.

Once the effects of price changes are taken into account, manufacturing sales in volume terms edged down 0.1% in December.