18.08.201918:50:00UTC+00New Zealand Services Sector Picks Up Steam

The services sector in New Zealand continued to expand in July, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Business NZ revealed on Monday with a Performance of Services Index score of 54.7.

That's up from 53.0 in June and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Individually, sales, employment, new orders and inventories continued to expand, while supplier deliveries remained in contraction.

"One should be cautious in reading too much into one month's data, but the positive result is good to see and especially in the context of weakness appearing in a few other leading indicators," BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said.