The manufacturing sector in New Zealand continued to contract in September, albeit barely, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Friday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 49.9.
That’s unchanged from the August reading, and it remains just barely beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the individual components, production (50.1), deliveries (51.1), finished stocks (50.4) and new orders (50.3) all expanded, while employment (47.5) continued to contract.
“The lack of improvement in the PMI risks a slower recovery than we have penciled in. Improvement is needed to be consistent with the pace of growth we forecast for the second half of this year,” BNZ’s Senior Economist Doug Steel said.
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