Food, beverage best in sector

Australia's manufacturing sector continued to shrink in February, but the rate of contraction has slowed. The Australian Industry Group performance of manufacturing index rose to 45.6 last month, up 5.4 points from January. An index level of below 50 indicates a contraction in activity. The Ai Group chief executive, Innes Willox, said the reading was the best result for the index since August, but the manufacturing sector continued to struggle despite low interest rates. The food, beverage and tobacco products sector and the wood and paper products sector fared best in February. The printing and recorded media sector suffered the sharpest decline.