State of Flux – PMI 13 Nov 2020 51.7October-2.3Monthly Changeexpandingslower rate Catherine Beard Executive Director, ExportNZ & ManufacturingNZ View profile New Zealand's manufacturing sector experienced a drop in expansion during October, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).The seasonally adjusted PMI for October was 51.7 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was down 2.3 points from September.BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that the sector remains in a state of flux, although still managing to keep in positive territory."Despite a relatively strong showing with the key indices of production and new orders in September, October saw both slide to lower levels of expansion. On a brighter note, employment (52.6) reached its highest level since April 2018". BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert said that “October’s PMI serves as a gentle reminder of not getting too carried away with the sense of recovery, even if the worst of COVID’s impacts can be assumed to be behind us".View the Time Series Data Main Indicies Regional Results Craig Ebert Senior Economist, BNZ Not So FastOctober’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI)served as a gentle reminder. That is, of not getting too carried away with the sense of recovery, even if the worst of COVID’s impacts can be assumed to be behind us.Read more QSBO Also Highlights CautionThen again, there was a bigger realisation of disappointment in October’s NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO), amongst manufacturers. Their reports of output over the last 3 months, for example, remained negative, at a net -15.Read more CostsEven if activity is assured of expanding well, it is no guarantee of improved profit – especially when cost pressures are emerging, as they very much appear to be.Read more CapacityThe advent of rising cost pressure might seem odd, when there is supposedly gaping amounts of spare capacity in the economy. The first point we’d make about this, is that there is probably less spare capacity than generally thought.Read more View full BNZ Manufacturing Snapshot PMI Time Series TableThe results are seasonally adjusted. National IndiciesOct2019Jun2020Jul2020Aug2020Sep2020Oct2020 BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI 51.856.459.051.054.051.7 Production51.358.861.851.856.751.1 Employment 49.548.347.249.251.752.6 New Orders53.458.267.554.358.152.4 Finished Stocks48.956.951.750.048.949.1 Deliveries52.057.458.247.649.849.5 View the Time Series Data BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Time SeriesJuly 2016 – October 2020 International ResultsJ.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM 2 Nov 202053.0 In this section Surveys & Statistics Performance of Manufacturing Index Performance of Services Index Compliance Cost Survey Exporters Survey Southern Cross Health Society - BusinessNZ Wellness in the Workplace Survey Reports & Publications BusinessNZ Planning Forecast International Guides & Tools BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Time Series Data View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI 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. View website Media Comment For media comment, please contact: Catherine Beard, ExportNZ & ManufacturingNZ 04 496 6560 Craig Ebert, 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