New Zealand BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) dropped -1.1 to 52.2 in March. That’s also the second consecutive decline in 2018 even though it still signaled expansion.
BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard:
- “On a positive note, the proportion of positive comments in March (55.1%) picked up from both February (51.4%) and January (50.7%).  Those who provided negative comments typically noted a lack of finding the right staff, reduced orders (both domestically and offshore) and general uncertainty in the market.”
BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert:
- “The weak spot in March’s PMI was its production index.  With a seasonally adjusted outcome of 50.8 this was close to stalling. Compare this to February’s 53.7 and the exceptionally high reading of 61.0 back in November and a sense of sharp deceleration arises”.
