A recovery in New Zealand's manufacturing sector over the closing months of 2009 was affirmed in December, BNZ economist Craig Ebert said following the release of the latest BNZ-Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). "In the closing months of 2009, New Zealand's manufacturing sector looked to be expanding, for sure, for the first time since 2007," Ebert said. "This was certainly portrayed in December's Performance of Manufacturing Index, which strengthened to a seasonally adjusted 52.9, from 51.9. While hardly raging away, it was the best level in two years. The same could be said for the production and new orders components of the PMI."

A PMI value above 50 indicates an expansion of activity in the sector, while a value below 50 indicates contraction. Unadjusted values show activity in the sector continued to expand, with December's PMI of 52.2 down from what was a large jump to 60.4 in November. The unadjusted PMI was up from a contractionary 41.5 in December 2008.