New Zealand BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index improved drastically to 52.6 in October, up from 48.8. It’s now back in expansion after three months of contraction from July to September. Production rose notably from 46.6 to 52.6. New Orders also jumped from 50.9 to 56.2. But Employment stayed sluggish, up from 50.1 to 50.2.
BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said: “After a five month period of both lacklustre and negative growth, the pick-up in both new orders and production put the sector back on track.  If the remaining two months for 2019 are to keep up the momentum, it is important these key sub-indexes remain positive to finish the year on a more upbeat note.
However, BNZ Senior Economist, Doug Steel said that “the October PMI is hardly what you would call strong. But it is certainly much better than the previous three months where the index languished below 50 which indicated a sector going backwards”.
