February pause – PMI 11 Mar 2016 56.0February-2.0Monthly Changeexpandingslower rate Catherine Beard Director, Advocacy BusinessNZ View profile New Zealand's manufacturing sector experienced a slower rate of expansion in February, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).The seasonally adjusted PMI for February was 56.0 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was 2 points down from January, although still the third highest level of activity over the last 12 months. The sector has now been in continued expansion since October 2012.BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that while January's sizzling result could not be built on, the level of expansion was still healthy in the sector for February. This was also supported by the fact that over two-thirds of comments remain positive. "The other area of interest in the February result was the slight contraction in employment, which last occurred in December 2014. Given the other sub-indexes of new orders and production remain very healthy, it will be interesting to see how employment growth plays out in the months to come ." BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said 'We would be more concerned by the dip in the employment indicator this month if it were not for very strong new orders and ongoing underlying strength in broader spending indicators. Overall, the PMI remains robust.'View the Time Series Data Main Indicies Regional Results Manufacturing Snapshot Doug Steel Senior Economist, BNZ PMI RobustNew Zealand's Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) was firm in February. Sure, it slowed a couple of points to 56.0, from January's 58.0, but it remains firmly in the mid-50s zone implying a solid rate of expansion.Read more Detail: Disaster or Delight?While the overall PMI looks as solid as it has for many months now, it is not without some interesting detail. Take the significant drop in the employment index for instance. While it might just be monthly noise we should not dismiss it out of hand.Read more Dairy DragExtreme weakness in the dairy industry continues to influence parts of manufacturing. This looks set to continue with a further reduction in the current season's payout forecast.Read more Spending StrongSpending indicators remain buoyant. The value of total electronic transactions in February was a whopping 9.5% higher than a year earlier.Read more . View full BNZ Manufacturing Snapshot PMI Time Series TableThe results are seasonally adjusted. National Indicies Feb2015 Oct2015 Nov2015 Dec2015 Jan2016 Feb2016 BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI 56.653.555.157.058.056.0 Production53.853.654.257.060.356.6 Employment 52.752.353.853.154.748.5 New Orders62.756.058.260.060.061.0 Finished Stocks53.249.750.755.154.557.1 Deliveries58.152.955.057.658.156.8 View the Time Series Data BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Time Series January 2018 – February 2016 International ResultsJ.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM 1 Mar 201650.0 In this section Media Releases Commentaries Photos Back to Business Cocktail Party 2019 State of the Nation Lunch Back to Business 2020 Deloitte and Chapman Tripp Election Conference 2020 - Leaders' Address Back to Business 2021 BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Time Series Data View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Sponsor StatementBNZ 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. View website Media Comment For media comment, please contact: Catherine Beard, BusinessNZ 04 496 6560 Doug Steel, BNZ 04 474 6799 Technical Comment For more information or assistance with data interpretation, please contact: Steve Summers 04 496 6564 ssummers@businessnz.org.nz Our Contributors The BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI contains data obtained through BusinessNZ's regional organisations 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. Related Articles Blooming good – PMI Steady state – PMI Now hiring – PMI Stretching out – PMI Pumping production – PMI View more