New Zealand's manufacturing sector bounced back from a 2-year low last month, expanding for the first time in two months.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index rose 5.9 points to 51.9 in December from a month earlier, with four of the five sub-indexes expanding.
Employment expanded for the first timesince March, on 52.7, while new orders increased 5.7 points from November to 52. Finished stocks also rose 0.5 points to 51.8 and deliveries improved 1.6 points to 49.8. Production experienced no change for the second time in four months on 50.0.
Stephen Toplis, head of research at Bank of New Zealand, said the figure was not strong and left question marks hanging over the industry's overall management that were raised in the NZ Institute of Economic Research's quarterly survey of business opinion this month.
"The central zone remained the stark laggard, along with mental product and non-metallic mineral manufacturing by way of type, while lesser-scaled firms were struggling to match the very upbeat indications from the big-sized outfits," Toplis said.
The latest PMI figures showed new orders expanding to 52.0, from a below breakeven reading of 46.3 last month, while activity sales increased to 49 per cent, compared with 47.3 the month before.
In the regions, Otago/Southland led the way again, expanding on 65.6, down slightly on November. Northern declined to 51.9 and Canterbury/Westland regions experienced lower growth on 54.2, while the central region fell further into decline on 42.7, its biggest drop since April.
