New Zealand Services Sector Slips Into Contraction - BusinessNZ

(RTTNews) - The services sector in New Zealand dropped into contraction territory in February, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 48.0.

That's down from 50.7 in January, and it falls beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

All five of the individual components of the survey were under water, including sales (47.9), employment (47.2), new orders (49.3), stocks (46.7) and supplier deliveries (48.7).

"Alas, today's PSI suggests the economy is recovering at a slower pace than we might have expected. The PSI comes as a real disappointment given that Friday's Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) was relatively upbeat," said BNZ's Senior Economist Doug Steel.