New Zealand’s services sector experienced slower levels of expansion in March according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).
The PSI for March was 54.8. This was 1.9 points lower than February, and the lowest level of expansion since November 2014 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said that easing expansion levels should not undermine the fact that the sector is still in positive and solid territory.
“While overall activity was not as high compared with recent months that came close to the 60-point mark, the sub-indices that underpin the main result are all still positive, along with expansion across the country”.
“Overall, given the fact that over 73% of comments received were still along a positive line confirms the sector remains in good heart”.
Regarding the March result, BNZ Senior Economist Craig Ebert said that “when the data is smoothed, it becomes clear over the last few months that momentum in the PSI has slowed, since a high point late last year. Yet it’s far from being slow as March is still running above the historical average of 53.9.”
