New Zealand's manufacturing expansion remained in low gear for the third consecutive month, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for August was 52.0 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). While this was 0.8 points higher than July, it remains below the long run average expansion level of 53.4.

BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that in a similar vein to July, the August results were a mixed bag.