A measure of business sentiment for the New Zealand Manufacturing sector. The PMI is constructed from a monthly survey of the manufacturing sector, broken down into 5 sub-indexes: production, employment, new orders, finished stock, and deliveries. The index uses 50 as a centerline between economic expansion/contraction expectations; the further the value from 50 the stronger the expected expansion or contraction. Increased activity in the manufacturing sector is usually a precursor to economic expansion and inflationary pressures.