The services sector in New Zealand continued to expand in March, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from BusinessNZ showed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 54.4.
That's down from 55.8 in February, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Individually, Activity/Sales (56.7) rose to its highest level since November 2022, while in contrast New Orders/Business (53.1) dropped to its lowest level of expansion since July 2022. Employment (51.3) remained very stable over the first three months of 2023, while both Stocks/Inventories (57.3) and Supplier Deliveries (55.0) both slipped slightly over March.
"Although there was a moderate decline in expansion levels during March, the proportion of negative comments jumped from 51.9 percent in February to 58.6 percent in March. A cooling economy, effects of price increases and general uncertainty were the main comments that came through," BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said.
