NZ manufacturing activity falls sharply in December as firms await clarity

NZ manufacturing activity falls sharply in December as firms await clarity
Rebecca Howard
By Rebecca Howard Jan. 19 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's manufacturing activity fell a five-year low in December as businesses deferred major decisions until there is more clarity after the change in the government, echoing the downbeat sentiment in this week's business confidence survey.  The BusinessNZ-Bank of New Zealand performance of manufacturing index fell 6.5 points to a seasonally adjusted 51.2 in December. While it continued its run of expansionary readings above 50 in every month since October 2012, it was the lowest result sin...