The services sector in New Zealand fell into contraction territory in October, the latest survey from BusinessNZ revealed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 48.9.
That's down from the downwardly revised 50.6 in September (originally 50.7) and it slides beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the individual components, supplier deliveries (49.8), activity/sales (47.4) and employment (49.3) contracted, while stocks (51.1) and new orders (51.9) expanded.
"Combined, the PSI (48.9) and PMI (42.5) paint a picture of economic angst. This counsels caution around GDP for Q3, after it posted a surprising gain of 0.9% in Q2," BNZ Senior Economist Craig Ebert said.
