NZ services sector picks up in April, boding well for second-quarter growth

NZ services sector picks up in April, boding well for second-quarter growth
Tina Morrison
By Tina Morrison May 16 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's services sector, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, picked up in April, suggesting the economy is growing at a "better than average" pace heading into the second quarter. The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of services index advanced 2.6 points to a seasonally adjusted 57.7 last month, the highest level of expansion since December 2015. A reading of 50 separates expansion from contraction. The latest measure of the services sector was driven higher by activity/sales, an...