Now, about that manufacturing crisis...part deux

LabourGreenNZFirstMana tried to hog the headlines a few months ago with a "parliamentary inquiry" into the woeful state of manufacturing in New Zealand. Unfortunately for them, just before their report was released the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) for May showed manufacturing at a nine-year high.

Well guess what; the news just keeps getting better; the NBR reports:

New Zealand manufacturing activity rose to its highest level on record for a July month, reflecting a broad expansion.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index rose 4.3 points to 59.5 in July from June, the highest result for a July month since the survey began in 2002 and the third highest monthly result on record. A reading above 50 indicates the sector expanded, while a fall below 50 shows contraction.
New Zealand manufacturing is underpinned by domestic demand from the construction sector on the back of the rebuilding of earthquake damaged Christchurch and demand for housing in Auckland, the nation's biggest city. Domestic demand is outweighing a weakness in our biggest export market of Australia, where an economic slowdown and the higher New Zealand dollar are crimping demand.
"Production and new orders continue to lead the charge, with signs that employment is starting to join in," Doug Steel, an economist at Bank of New Zealand, said in a statement. "The strength is broad-based with expansion indicated by all major sub-indices across industries, regions and firm size."

This is great news for manufacturers, and for the economy in general. And the best news is found in the last line of the quote above; this is a broad-based improvement; read on:

Expansion was evident throughout the country in July, with the Canterbury region leading the way at 62.7, recovering from a dip to 53.3 in June. The Northern region continued to show healthy growth with a reading of 60.2 from 56 the previous month and the Central region returning to expansion of 58.3 following a contraction of 49.5 in June. The Otago-Southland region improved to 54.7 from 53.2 and has now been in expansion for three months in a row.

That manufacturing is expanding throughout the country is very welcome news. All regions are in expansion, and growth in the Northern region is almost at the same level as that of Canterbury.

The media and LabourGreenNZFirstMana continue to focus on job losses such as those at Solid Energy in Huntly yesterday. But we hear very little about expansion in jobs; the MSM and opposition parties' stock-in-trade is, of course, negativity. However the BNZ-BusinessNZ survey notes that "employment is starting to join in" the growth in manufacturing. That too is welcome news.

The only crisis in manufacturing was a manufactured one; manufactured for wholly political purposes. Whilst LabourGreenNZFirstMana chases shadows, the manufacturers of New Zealand are getting on with the job, and the PMI suggests that they are doing an exceptional job.