Manufacturing Snapshot
Hanging in there!
Somehow, battered by a combination of a broken construction sector, wilting consumer confidence, surging energy costs and the rising cost of fuel-impacted inputs, the manufacturing sector is continuing to fight on.
Solid sales volumes in Q1
We suspect a lot of the relative optimism stems from what appears to have been a solid first quarter for the New Zealand economy.
But deterioration is now clear
Potentially particularly disconcerting is the fact that, when compared to long term averages, new orders are the weakest component but stocks are the strongest.
No growth in jobs
No growth in manufacturing employment and supports our view that there is further upward pressure on the country’s unemployment rate.
