Activity in New Zealand’s services sector sunk even further during June, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).
The PSI for June was 40.2 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining). This was down 2.4 points from May and for the second month in a row the lowest level of activity for the sector for a non-COVID lockdown month since the survey began in 2007.
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said that after a bad May result, the June figures simply got worse. The key index values for Activity/Sales (35.6) and New Orders/Business (38.3) were both the lowest for a non-COVID lockdown month. Employment (45.6) was at its lowest point since February 2022, while Supplier Deliveries (41.6) was the lowest since March 2022.
The proportion of negative comments for June (67.0%), which was up on May (65.4%) and April (66.3%). Respondents continued to note recessionary aspects of the current economic downturn.
BNZ’s Senior Economist Doug Steel said that “the Performance of Services Index has been well below average for more than a year. Moreover, the weakness appears to be accelerating”.