Slowdown in New Zealand's service sector growth rebounded at the start of the year to the highest level in three months, as sales and stocks continued to increase at stronger rates along with a renewed rise in employment, survey figures from Business NZ showed on Monday.
The performance of the services index, or PSI, rose to 54.5 in January from 52.0 in December. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in the sector.
Further, the latest reading was above the long-term average of 53.6.
The sub-index for activity rose slightly to 52.1 in January from 51.9 in December, while the new order index also dropped from 57.7 to 54.5, which was the lowest result since April 2022.
Employment levels returned to growth in January, with the corresponding index climbing to 51.9 from 46.9. The sub-index for stocks strengthened to 54.3 from 51.6.
"As encouraging as January's PSI result might look, we are reluctant to read too much into one month's result - especially around the holiday period," BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said.
