24 Jan 2017

Services sector expands again

11:37 am on 24 January 2017

New Zealand's services sector continued to expand in December.

The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Services Index climbed to 58.4 in December, 0.3 points higher than the month before. The figure was the highest for the year.

All sub-categories grew, with the production and sales category remained around the 60 point mark. A reading over 50 indicates expansion.

BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said the PSI's new orders and business index, also around 60 points, was above normal.

"This heralds sustained strong expansion in sales activity, which was already pumping in December," he said.

However, he said there was a question mark over the performance of the retail sector, as December's electronic card transactions failed to bounce back after November's dip.