New Zealand Manufacturing PMI Spikes In January - BusinessNZ

(RTTNews) - The manufacturing sector in New Zealand climbed firmly into expansion territory in January, the latest survey from BusinessNZ showed on Friday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 57.7.

That's up sharply from 48.7 in December and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Individually, four of the five main indices expanded last month, including production (59.1), employment (55.4), new orders (62.4) and finished stocks (52.5). Only deliveries (48.7) were in the red.

"The three-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," said BNZ Senior Economist Craig Ebert.