Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) has recently revealed a slump in the building and manufacturing activity. The building work had risen considerably in the last three quarters but has seen a considerable fall in the last 3 quarters. The September quarter has however seen a fall of 3.2 percent which is quite alarming.

On the other hand the manufacturing sales volume saw figures of as low as 1.4%. These were the worst figures in last 10 years. Among the sectors that were worst affected were paper, wood, fuel, machinery, meat and dairy sectors.

The last 3 months saw steep rise of 20 percent. Non-residential building work wasn’t as much affected as the figures just saw decline of 0.7 percent. Residential building on the other hand saw steep fall of 5.3% and was an issue of concern.

Value wise the building work fell by 1.5 percent to $11 billion which was also among the lowest of the decade. Residential buildings contributed 57.8 per cent of that value.