BNZ – BusinessNZ
Performance of
Manufacturing
Index

Ups and downs – PMI

10 Dec, 2021
50.6
November
-3.6

Monthly Change

expanding
slower rate

New Zealand’s manufacturing sector saw a lower level of expansion for November, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for November was 50.6 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).  This was 3.6 points lower than October.

BusinessNZ’s Director, Advocacy Catherine Beard said that the up and down nature of the key sub-indices that make up the overall result shows that the sector has some way to go to get back to what we saw during the first half of 2021.  

“New Orders (54.7) has remained very consistent over the last three months.  Production (52.2), while positive, has remained somewhat lacklustre.  Employment (48.2) fell back into contraction for the first time since December 2020, while Finished Stocks (48.3) and Deliveries (42.9) both returned in contraction after exhibiting expansion in October.”

“In addition, the proportion of negative comments from respondents rose to 57.6% in November, compared with 55.4% for October and 71% in September.”

BNZ Senior Economist, Doug Steel stated that “the PMI implications for economic (and employment) growth seem clear – soft.  But with obvious difficulties remaining on the supply side, we’d suggest that inflation is still rising.”

Catherine Beard

Catherine Beard

Director, Advocacy BusinessNZ

BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Time Series Data

View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI

Manufacturing Snapshot

PMI

The Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) underwhelmed in November. It fell to 50.6, after a spurt higher to 54.2 in October. So back below average.
Read more

Delivery down

Disconcertingly, all sub-components were below their respective long-term norms in November.
Read more

Employment falls

Perhaps the most disappointing number in today’s PMI was employment. It had been slowing over recent months but slipped further to 48.2 in November from 51.7 in October.
Read more

What does it mean?

All we can reasonably say from the PMI’s October and November employment readings is that they suggest minimal manufacturing employment growth so far in Q4.
Read more

Doug Steel

Doug Steel

Senior Economist, BNZ

Sponsor Statement

BNZ is delighted to be associated with the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) and BusinessNZ.

This association brings together the significant experience of leading business advocacy body BusinessNZ, and business finance specialist BNZ.

We look forward to continuing our association with BusinessNZ and associated regional organisations, and to playing our part in the ongoing development of the New Zealand manufacturing sector.

PMI Time Series Table

The results are seasonally adjusted.

National Indicies Nov
2020
Jul
2021
Aug
2021
Sep
2021
Oct
2021
Nov
2021
BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI 54.8 62.5 39.8 51.5 54.2 50.6
Production 54.9 64.5 27.1 50.3 53.2 52.2
Employment 51.4 57.8 54.1 54.0 51.7 48.2
New Orders 55.6 63.3 44.1 54.3 54.2 54.7
Finished Stocks 60.6 56.2 45.8 49.8 54.6 48.3
Deliveries 51.5 55.2 32.9 47.6 59.9 42.9

BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI Time Series

November 2017 – November 2021

International Results

J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM

01 Dec 2021
54.2

About the PMI

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index is a monthly survey of the manufacturing sector providing an early indicator of activity levels.

A PMI reading above 50 points indicates manufacturing activity is expanding; below 50 indicates it is contracting.

The main PMI and sub-index results are seasonally adjusted.

Technical Contact

Stephen Summers
Economist, BusinessNZ

[email protected]

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Our Contributors

The BNZ – BusinessNZ PMI contains data obtained through BusinessNZ’s regional organisations