New Zealand manufacturing growth slows, but still healthy in July
Xinhua, August 12, 2016 Adjust font size:
Growth in New Zealand's manufacturing sector slowed slightly last month, according to the latest performance of manufacturing index (PMI) out Friday.
The latest BNZ-Business New Zealand PMI for July was 55.8, on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction.
Although this was 1.8 points lower than June, it still represented healthy growth and the sector remained solidly in expansion in almost all months since October 2012.
Business New Zealand executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that while both production and new orders had come back slightly from strong activity levels, employment has been a slow and steady burner in terms of activity.
"Expansion for employment reached 54.6 in July, which was the fifth consecutive monthly increase in activity. It was also the highest level of activity for this sub-index since October 2014," Beard said in a statement.
BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said the only weak looking constituent of July's PMI was around the stocks of finished products.
"Yet it's hard to see this as a genuine negative. Not with new orders, as a demand indicator, still relatively strong at a seasonally adjusted 58.1," Ebert said in the statement. Endit