NZ services sector expands in March   20 Apr 2015

NZ services sector expands in March, rebounding after a drop in February

By Suze Metherell

April 20 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand services sector, which makes up about two thirds of the economy, expanded in March, following a drop off in February, led by gains in new orders and stocks/inventories.

The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of services index increased 1.6 points to 57.6, with all five sub-indices remaining above the 50 level that separates contraction from expansion. Last month's reading is slightly below the March 2014 reading of 57.7.

The services sector survey comes after the manufacturing series released last Thursday, which slipped slightly but remained in an expansionary mode for the 30th consecutive month. The combined result indicates the New Zealand economy is still growing, with the BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of composite index increasing 1.2 points to a GDP-weighted index reading of 57.1, while the free-weighted index slipped 0.4 points to 56.4.

"The service sector is expanding at a brisk pace," said BNZ senior economist Doug Steel. "This has been the case for a good two years now with even a hint of acceleration appearing of late."

All but one of the sub-indices rose in March, with activity/sales the only one to slip, down to 60.1 from a previous reading of 62. New orders/business had the highest reading at 60.4, from 58.3, while stock/inventories jumped to 57.7 from 53.7. Employment gained 2 points to 54.8, while supplier deliveries increased 2.2 points to 53.8.

"A strong service sector bodes well for economic growth and employment," Steel said. "Labour demand is one thing, finding the people might be another with firms reporting difficulty finding staff."

(BusinessDesk)

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