Solid start to year – PMI 12 Feb 2021 57.5January+9.2Monthly Changeexpandingpreviously contracting Catherine Beard Director, Advocacy BusinessNZ View profile New Zealand's manufacturing sector started the year with expansion, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).The seasonally adjusted PMI for January was 57.5 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was up 9.2 points from December, and a solid return to expansion.BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that the January result was a welcome start to 2021, with the result clearly above the long term average of 53.0 for the Index."All major sub-index values were up from December, with New Orders (62.4) leading the way with its highest result since July last year. Production (59.1) rose 6.8 points, while Employment (55.4) produced its highest result since August 2017."BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert said that “the 3-month average to January was 53.6, slightly above the long-term norm of 53.0. Also, January’s improvement was encouraging in its composition, with New Orders leading the way"View the Time Series Data Main Indicies Regional Results Craig Ebert Senior Economist, BNZ PMIThe Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) roared back to positivity in January, with an index reading of 57.5. This was a far cry from the 48.3 it stumbled to in December. The 3-month average to January was 53.6, slightly above the long -term norm (53.0). Read more SeasonalityThis variety of movement and levels in the sub -components argues against the notion that the big down and up in the overall PMI over December 2020 and January 2021 might reflect difficulties in the seasonal adjustment method in dealing with (i) the stop-start episodes we’ve seen on account of COVID-19 and (ii) the fact that as there was no survey conducted for March 2020, with that month’s numbers made to be the average of the February and April results.Read more Sub detailThe other reason to trust the down and up in the seasonally adjusted PMI over December and January is simply that the unadjusted (raw) series echoed a similar thing, when compared to respective year-ago levels.Read more GlobalOf course, it’s good to see New Zealand’s PMI bounced so much in January, to such a strong level. However, we need to be careful about presuming it must therefore be doing far better than PMI’s globally are at present.Read more View full BNZ Manufacturing Snapshot PMI Time Series TableThe results are seasonally adjusted. National IndiciesJan2020Sep2020Oct2020Nov2020Dec2020Jan2021 BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI 47.953.752.355.248.357.5 Production47.455.951.955.352.359.1 Employment 45.951.652.451.550.255.4 New Orders48.557.253.256.650.362.4 Finished Stocks49.648.849.059.147.852.5 Deliveries46.349.649.151.645.048.7 View the Time Series Data BNZ - BusinessNZ PMI Time Series January 2018 – January 2021 International ResultsJ.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMITM 1 Feb 202153.5 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 BusinessNZ RAT Suppliers Guides & Tools BusinessNZ RAT Suppliers RATs for non-critical business, agencies and organisations 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, BusinessNZ 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