The manufacturing sector in New Zealand continued to experience contraction in September, albeit at a diminished rate, as highlighted by the latest BusinessNZ survey released on Friday, which recorded a manufacturing PMI score of 46.0. This figure marks a slight increase from the revised 46.1 recorded in August (initially reported as 45.9), yet it remains below the key threshold of 50 that distinguishes expansion from contraction.
Examining the specific components, production (48.0), employment (46.6), new orders (47.8), finished stocks (46.6), and deliveries (45.6) all persisted in contraction territory.
"Despite all sub-indices falling significantly below their historical averages, four out of five categories have edged closer to the breakeven point in the past three months since June," noted Doug Steel, Senior Economist at BNZ.
