New Zealand Industry

The BNZ Capital – Business NZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) stood at 56.0 in November, up 6.1 points from October and 2.8 points from September. Looking year on year, the PSI in November 2009 stood 8.7 points above that recorded in November 2008 (47.3). Over the last three months the PSI has averaged 53.0 indicating that overall service sector activity is beginning to slowly show signs of expansion. A PSI reading above 50.0 »»

The BNZ Capital – Business NZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) stood at 50.1 in July 2009, up 5.1 points from June, and 3.9 points from May. Over the last three months the PSI has averaged 47.1 indicating that overall service sector activity has continued to contract throughout 2009. Looking year on year, the PSI in July 2009 stood 1.2 points below that recorded in July 2008 (48.9). A small difference, but a PSI reading above 50.0 »»

There is no doubt that the global economic downturn is having a detrimental effect on the tourism sector. Annual visitor arrivals peaked in March 2008 at 2,497,000 p.a., just 3,000 visitors shy of the 2.5 million per annum milestone that some industry observers expected to be achieved last year. The last three quarters of 2008 saw falls in visitor numbers of 3.6 percent (June quarter), 2.1 percent (September quarter), and 1.5 percent (December »»

Total guest nights for the year to June 2008 rose by 2 percent, with the positive trend for North Island guest nights and flat trend in the South Island continuing. While most months in the past year have seen growth in guest numbers, this June was softer than June 2007. From a regional perspective, only Wellington, one of twelve regions monitored, reported higher guest nights in June (plus 1 percent). International guest nights have »»

You might think you’re at an auction with the latest retail trade stats – Going… going… ? The retail sector was subdued in the last quarter. Although quarterly sales were higher than a year ago (2.2 percent), the quarter-on-quarter statistics show a slow down: seasonally adjusted sales fell by 0.2 percent. The slowdown is widespread, as although 18 of the 24 retail industries increased sales between the March »»

While statistics aren’t most people’s cup of tea, there’s a reason why most people won’t like the latest retail and inflation numbers out from StatsNZ. Sales in those retail industries where most discretionary spending goes have seen falls over the last quarter. This includes lower (seasonally adjusted) sales for the three months to May 2008 in industries such as furniture and floor coverings (-17.9 percent), »»

Manufacturing activity slowed further in June with a 2.2 point drop from the previous month according to the Bank of New Zealand-Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) to 45.7. Manufacturing activity has consolidated over the last six months, but this drop in the PMI in June was significant. It is the second lowest result since the Survey began in 2002, and is the lowest June value recorded. The previous lowest result »»

It’s been a tough few years for sheep farmers and now the drought.  So, the Free Trade Agreement with China would, no doubt, have been welcome news for the meat and wool sector.  China is New Zealand’s most important market for sheep skins, is a large market for sheep meat and is a valuable wool-selling partner. Meat and Wool New Zealand expects the agreement to potentially double the amount of export meat and skins sent »»

After several months of easing in manufacturing growth, Business New Zealand’s Performance Manufacturing Index (PMI) for March 2008 dropped 3.5 points from February to sit at 48.3.  Remember that a number below 50 indicates negative growth.  This drop means the March 2008 PMI is the lowest March value recorded since the survey began in August 2002; the first time the PMI has shown a decrease in overall activity since January »»

The rate of manufacturing growth appears to be easing, with the Business New Zealand PMI recording a figure of 53.8 in January.  This easing in expansion can be seen in the seasonally adjusted figures.  While the seasonally adjusted PMI for January recorded 53.3, where a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding, this was below the December 2007 seasonally adjusted PMI reading of 53.8 Examining the »»

Latest building consent numbers further confirm the cooling of the housing market, with an easing in the number of non-apartment dwelling consents. The December 2007 month saw a 13.9% fall in the number of non-apartment dwelling consents compared to December 2006. Overall, the total number of dwelling consents issued in 2007 dropped to around 25,500, being 7.7% down on the previous year. This year’s total comprised 23,000 non-apartment »»

The latest retail data released by Statistics New Zealand show a positive picture for the year as a whole, but a mixed picture for growth in the latest few months. Three quarters of the core retail sales industries increased their sales between October and November.  Sales in all four motor vehicle industries expanded.  Automotive fuel sales climbed by 5.4 percent over the last month, and compared to December a year ago this »»

Strong growth in November was followed by an easing of expansion levels in December 2007.  This easing of expansion can be seen in the Business NZ seasonally adjusted PMI for December.  The PMI for December recorded 53.8, where a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding, below 50.0 that it is declining.  In November 2007 the PMI was 56.7. Examining the sub-indexes, all five recorded expansion for »»