New Zealand Services Index Improves In June - BusinessNZ

(RTTNews) - The services sector in New Zealand continued to contract in June, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 47.3.

That's up from the upwardly revised 44.1 in May (originally 44.0), although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Individually, sales (44.5), employment (47.4), new orders (48.8) and supplier deliveries (46.8) all contracted, while stocks and inventories (50.6) expanded.

"While the headline PSI measure did lift from 44.1 to 47.3, every month it remains below 50 suggests service sector conditions are getting worse not better. The timeline for New Zealand's long-awaited economic recovery just keeps getting pushed further and further out," BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said.