New Zealand Manufacturing PMI Slips To 47.4 - BusinessNZ

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in New Zealand continued to contract in December, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Friday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 47.4.

That's down from 49.3 and it moves further beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Among the individual components, deliveries (50.7) and finished stocks (56.1) expanded, while production (49.6), employment (46.7) and new orders (41.8) were in contraction.

"It's been quite the sag in the PMI, compared to just three months ago when everything appeared positive. Of course, the PMI can dive down to the 40-zone when things get recessionary. And November's result wasn't that awful. That said, it also had componentry showing a negative dynamic at play," BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert said.