Manufacturing activity in New Zealand rose in April helped by an uptick in new orders, while employment touched its highest level of expansion since July 2021, a survey showed on Friday.
The Bank of New Zealand-Business NZ’s seasonally adjusted Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) edged higher to 53.9 in April from 53.2 in March. New orders rose to 51.4 from a revised 49.8 in the prior month.
A reading above 50 indicates manufacturing activity is expanding, while anything below that threshold points to contraction.
“Activity is not surging, but a manufacturing recovery seems to be underway … That said, there remain questions around how sustainable it is given uncertainty stemming from offshore,” BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said in a statement.
