WELLINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand manufacturing production was up last month, driving the sector's continuing expansion, according to the latest performance of manufacturing index (PMI) out Friday.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand PMI for May was 57.1 on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction.
The reading was 0.5 points higher than April, and the highest level of expansion since January.
The sector had been in expansion in almost all months since October 2012, Business New Zealand executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said in a statement.
The key components of the overall PMI result continued to show strong results with production on 61.1, the first time it had advanced beyond the 60 mark since December 2014, while new orders (59.9) had remained within a tight band range of 2.5 points since November 2015, said Beard.
