The services sector in New Zealand continued to contract in October, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 46.0.
That was up from 45.7 in September, although it remains well beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the individual components, sales (44.3), employment (46.4), new orders (48.1), inventories (47.2) and supplier deliveries (46.9) were all solidly in contraction territory.
“Although it is contracting at a much slower pace than it was in June when the PSI was 41.1, the PSI has been hovering between 45 and 46 over the last four months. The activity outlook for the sector has improved in recent business surveys, but the here and now remains extremely challenging,” said BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel.
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