The latest survey from BusinessNZ shows that the manufacturing sector in New Zealand kept on shrinking in April, though at a less rapid rate, posting a score of 48.9. This suggests a slight improvement from the downwardly revised 46.8 score from March (previously 47.1). Nonetheless, it still falls below the pivotal 50 mark that distinguishes growth from decline.
Looking at specific sectors, production (50.8), employment (60.8), and finished stocks (50.4) have shown growth, whereas deliveries (48.4) and new orders (45.3) have shrunk.
As stated by BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel, the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) for this year so far aligns with the manufacturing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lagging behind last year's levels. Nevertheless, he notes that the details for April are more of a mixed bag, rather than uniformly weak as it has been in the past few months.
