BNZ – BusinessNZ
Performance of
Services Index

A perfect storm? – PSI

15 May, 2017
52.8
April
-6.0

Monthly Change

expanding
slower rate

New Zealand’s services sector experienced a sudden drop in expansion levels during April, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).

The PSI for April was 52.8. This was 6.0 points lower than March, and the lowest level of expansion since December 2012 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said that the drop in expansion levels compared with recent months was most likely due to a number of factors affecting the business community in recent weeks.

“Looking at comments from respondents, it was fairly evident that school holidays, public holidays and severe weather conditions combined to create a number of impediments to expansion during April.”

“Looking ahead, with new orders (55.6) still in healthy territory, we would hope that expansion picks up again in the months ahead”.

BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said that “if there is a slowing in underlying economic momentum underway, the drop in the PSI surely overstates it. That said, it will be good to see a decent bounce back in May to confirm that is indeed the case”.

Kirk Hope

Kirk Hope

CEO, BusinessNZ

BNZ - BusinessNZ PSI

Time Series Data

View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PSI

Services Landscape

Bad Weather Holidays

After months and months of persistent strength, the sudden drop in the Performance of Services Index raises an eyebrow. April’s 52.8 result still indicates some growth occurred in the month. But in being a full six index points below March, to the lowest reading since late 2012, it points to a sharp slowdown in the rate of progress.
Read more

Help Found

Strong employment is one reason to not get too downbeat by the weak headline PSI result. Despite expressing difficulty in finding labour over recent quarters, service sector firms report they have managed to fill many positions in April.
Read more

Spending Disrupted

April’s holiday and weather events seemed to have also distorted the value of electronic card transactions. In those, annual growth slumped to 2.8% in April from 6.2% in March.
Read more

Housing

House sales have moderated over the past year although the holiday-and-weather-affected 32% y/y drop in April probably overstates the case.
Read more

Doug Steel

Doug Steel

Senior Economist, BNZ

Sponsor Statement

BNZ is delighted to be associated with the Performance of Services Index (PSI) and BusinessNZ.

This association brings together the significant experience of leading business advocacy body BusinessNZ, and business finance specialist BNZ.

We look forward to continuing our association with BusinessNZ and associated regional organisations, and to playing our part in the ongoing development of the New Zealand service sector.

PSI Time Series Table

The results are seasonally adjusted.

National Indicies Apr
2016
Dec
2016
Jan
2017
Feb
2017
Mar
2017
Apr
2017
BNZ – BusinessNZ PSI 58.1 58.5 59.3 58.6 58.8 52.8
Activity/Sales 63.5 63.2 60.6 60.4 60.9 52.3
Employment 53.2 54.1 53.7 54.6 53.0 55.8
New Orders/Business 61.3 61.4 64.2 61.8 65.8 55.6
Stocks/Inventories 53.4 53.2 57.5 57.6 57.0 46.7
Supplier Deliveries 55.4 56.9 56.9 58.5 55.8 48.5

BNZ – BusinessNZ PSI Time Series

April 2013 – April 2017

International Results

J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PSITM

04 May 2017
53.6

About the PSI

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index is a monthly survey of the service sector providing an early indicator of activity levels.

A PSI reading above 50 points indicates service activity is expanding; below 50 indicates it is contracting.

The main PSI and sub-index results are seasonally adjusted.

Technical Contact

Stephen Summers
Economist, BusinessNZ

[email protected]

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New Zealand’s services sector fell back into contraction during December, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). The PSI for December was 48.8 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below...

Over the line

New Zealand’s services sector recorded expansion in November, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). The PSI for November was 51.2 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is...

Lost momentum

New Zealand’s services sector went back into contraction in October, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI). The PSI for October was 48.9 (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that...

BNZ – BusinessNZ
Performance of
Composite Index

53.4

GDP-Weighted Index

55.1

Free-Weighted Index

The seasonally adjusted BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Composite Index or PCI (which combines the PMI and PSI) saw the two options for measuring the PCI both decrease in April.

The April GDP-Weighted Index (53.4) decreased 5.2 points from March, while the Free-Weighted Index (55.1) fell 2.9 points. The drop in both indices was mainly due to the lower result for the services sector.

PCI Time Series Table

The results are seasonally adjusted.

National Indicies Apr
2016
Dec
2016
Jan
2017
Feb
2017
Mar
2017
Apr
2017
GDP-Weighted Index 58.0 58.0 58.6 58.1 58.6 53.4
Free-Weighted Index 57.8 56.7 56.9 57.4 58.0 55.1

BNZ – BusinessNZ PCI Time Series

April 2013 – April 2017

About the PCI

The BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Composite Index (PCI) takes into account results from both the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) and the Performance of Services Index (PSI). Combined results are shown in two ways:

GDP-Weighted Index:
Apportions the weight of the manufacturing and services index within the economy to produce an overall result.

Free-Weighted Index:
Combines data from both indexes to produce an overall result.

Both time series for the PCI are then seasonally adjusted.

BNZ - BusinessNZ PCI

Time Series Data

View seasonally adjusted and unadjusted time series data for the BNZ - BusinessNZ PCI

Our Contributors

The BNZ – BusinessNZ PSI contains data obtained through BusinessNZ’s regional organisations