Labour shortages strangle business confidence: NZIER

Rising costs, labour shortages and covid's impact is weighing on business sentiment. (Image: Getty)

Tue, 18 Jan 2022

The prolonged covid-19 outbreak and restrictions took a bite out of business confidence and demand in the December quarter, setting a downbeat tone for business sentiment going into 2022.A net 34% of firms now expect general economic conditions to deteriorate versus a net 11% that were pessimistic in the prior quarterly business confidence survey from the NZ Institute of Economic Research. “The downbeat mood was widespread across most of New Zealand, with businesses across the region except Wellington on balance expecting a worsenin...

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