NZ services activity falls in January as employment, new business drop back

NZ services activity falls in January as employment, new business drop back
Sophie Boot
By Sophie Boot Feb. 19 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's services sector activity, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, dipped in January, with employment falling amid expectations immigration will keep available labour levels high. The BNZ-Business NZ performance of services index fell 0.2 points to a seasonally adjusted 55.8 last month. All of the five sub-indices were above the 50 reading that separates contraction from expansion, with three rising while two fell.  The employment sub-index dropped 5.2 points to 50.6 in J...