Growth in New Zealand's services sector slowed to its lowest rate in almost two years in July, according to the latest performance of services index (PSI) out Monday.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand PSI for last month was 54.2, on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction. The level was 2.2 points down from June, and the lowest value since November 2014.
Business New Zealand chief executive Kirk Hope said in a statement that despite the dip in expansion levels, the primary components involving activity/sales and new orders/business remained very healthy. The GDP-weighted performance of composite index, which combines the PSI and the performance of manufacturing index (PMI), in July was down 2.2 points to 54.5 last month. The numbers from the PSI and PMI inferred that New Zealand's annual gross domestic product was growing at around 3 percent, BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said in a statement.
"With July's PSI around about average, and the PMI holding above its norm, combined they suggest the economy is expanding at a rate around, or slightly above, trend," said Steel.
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