New Zealand’s manufacturing sector experienced a slight softening of expansion during November, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) for November.
The seasonally adjusted PMI for November was 54.4 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was 0.7 points lower than October, and the lowest level of expansion since October 2015. The sector remains solidly in expansion in almost all months since October 2012.
BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that although the lower expansion level for November represented the second consecutive softening in expansion, the fundamentals of the survey remained healthy.
“While employment (48.6) went into slight contraction for November, production (57.9) remained unchanged from October, while new orders (58.0) increased 3.1 points. Also, the proportion of positive comments from manufacturers for November (70%) remained very healthy”.
BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said “that while the PMI slowed to a 13-month low in November, this seems nothing to lose sleep over given it is still above its long-term average of 53.2”.
