Services activity jumps in January; coronavirus yet to bite

Mon, 17 Feb 2020

New orders boosted services sector activity to its highest level in almost two years last month, but covid-19 has yet to bite. The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of services index lifted to a seasonally adjusted 57.1 in January, up five points from December and the highest since March 2018. The long-term average is 54.4, with a reading above 50 indicating expansion. BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said he hadn’t expected the impact from covid-19 and the policy response to that to show up yet as “general awareness of the virus didn’t really r...

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