The official figures for May has revealed that the manufacturing sector has expanded and is still in the same mode for the ninth month running; however, the pace has comparatively eased off since April.

The seasonally adjusted PMI for May stood at 54.5 in May, marking a slip 4.1 points from figures in April and in line with international indexes.

A PMI reading above 50.0 reflects that manufacturing is on a high, below 50 depict that it is decreasing.

"What we're left with, then, is a much more mixed picture by way of the slicing and dicing, compared to the more concerted momentum evident earlier in the year", said BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert.

Business New Zealand Executive Director for Manufacturing, Catherine Beard found that the market appeared to have undergone a transformation.

In addition, the overall manufacturing sales volumes marked a squeeze 2.7%, mirroring a 10% squeeze in agricultural produces, with the remaining of manufacturing marking a growth in real sales by nearly 2.7%.

Unadjusted performances recorded for region showed all to register expansion during May, however, Northland stood at 48.3, extending disappointment.

Leading the regions was Otago/Southland (58.5), with Canterbury (57.6), and the Central region (52.3) taking the next position.