New Zealand BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing jumped a notable 9.2 pts to 57.5 in January. Looking at some details, Production rose from 52.3 to 59.1. Employment rose from 50.2 to 55.4. New Orders rose from 50.3 to 62.4. Finished stocks rose from 47.8 to 52.5. Deliveries also improved from 45.0 to 48.7.
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.
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”.
