New Zealand’s manufacturing sector saw activity increase in February after a dip in expansion during January, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).
The seasonally adjusted PMI for February was 55.2 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was 3.0 points higher than January, and the highest level of expansion since September 2016. Overall, the sector has remained in expansion in almost all months since October 2012.
BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that it was pleasing to see the sector pick up after January’s dip due to mostly seasonal factors.
“While a few respondents continued to outline negative seasonal factors impacting their overall activity levels during February, the 61.7% of positive comments received pointed to increased orders, both at a domestic and offshore level”.
BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said “it was good to see the PMI bounce in February. Had it not, we would have become a little apprehensive about the way it was going”.
