The manufacturing sector is showing its first signs of confidence in four months, buoyed by the prospect of the Christmas trading period.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Manufacturing Index shows activity in the manufacturing sector rose two points to 50.5 in October.
A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding.
Despite the improvement, Business NZ executive director Catherine Beard says activity is flat.
Over the last quarter, the index averaged 48.8 and 51.2 for the year to date.