The Christmas holiday season appears to have taken its toll on New Zealand's manufacturing sector, which figures show slumped to its lowest overall rate since December 2012.
Nationally, the BNZ-Business New Zealand manufacturing index slipped 6 points to 50.9. The index operates such that readings above 50 indicate industry expansion and below 50, contraction.
All four New Zealand regions were in contraction, the North Island's northern and central regions at 45.5 and 47.5 respectively, and the South Island's Canterbury-Westland at 48.3 and Otago-Southland at 46.6.
Otago Southland Employers' Association chief executive John Scandrett said regional manufacturing performances experienced ''some slippage'' from previous months.
Otago-Southland's contraction to 46.6 largely reflected the post-Christmas holiday season.
He said production levels across most southern sub-sectors, with the exception of food and beverage and meat industry-related activity, had ''dipped significantly'', but that was usually the case in January.
Business New Zealand executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said with firms partly closed during January, lower values across the country were a fairly similar pattern to most years, but the January 2015 result was lower than the previous two years.
