OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 0.6 per cent in September to $49.9 billion, the fourth increase in five months and slightly better than expected.

The agency says the gain in September was largely a result of higher sales in the motor vehicle assembly and food industries.

Sales rose in 11 of 21 industries, representing about 55 per cent of manufacturing.

The improvement was one-tenth of a point above an estimate of 0.5 per cent growth.

RELATED: Manufacturing sales up 0.4 per cent in September: StatsCan

Statistics Canada said both the durable and the non-durable goods industries posted 0.6 per cent sales gains in September.

Constant dollar sales increased 1.0 per cent in September, indicating a rise in volumes.

In the motor vehicle assembly industry, sales were up 5.4 per cent to $4.7 billion in September, while food sales rose 2.6 per cent to $7.5 billion, the largest increase since December 2012.