Declining dollar boosts manufacturing confidence

Manufacturing activity picked up slightly last month, the Business New Zealand performance of manufacturing index shows.

The index stood at 53.9, up 1.9 points from June. Any figure over 50 indicates the sector generally is expanding.

Production and new orders are at the second-highest levels recorded in the past year, bettered only in May.

"Apart from the blip in May, the index has been relatively steady over the past six months," Business NZ said.

Positive comments were on a par with negative ones. A winter seasonal dip in activity figured in some of the negative comments, while many of the positive comments were linked to the declining trend in the dollar.

As it has been for eight of the past 12 months, the employment index was below 50, albeit only just, implying contracting employment in the manufacturing sector.