10 Mar 2015

Economy still trucking along

1:58 pm on 10 March 2015

The latest figures on traffic flows suggest the economy is rolling on.

ANZ Bank's Truckometer measures the traffic flow on certain New Zealand roads to provide a quick snapshot of how the economy is doing, in terms of production and momentum.

The heavy traffic index, which provides a more immediate snapshot of the health of the economy, fell a seasonally-adjusted 1-point-3 percent in February, while the light traffic index, which gives a six-month lead on the economy, rose one percent.

An ANZ economist Sharon Zöllner said the numbers indicate continued momentum in the economy, despite the fall in the heavy traffic index.

That was because the heavy traffic index actually rose 1.7 percent on a smoothed three-month average.

"That's boding well both for both at the start of the year and further out."

She said the economic growth in the first quarter of this year is likely to be lower than at the end of 2014, which is expected to have finished strongly.

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