NZ services expand modestly, but confidence and hiring remain subdued.<\/p>\n
Summary:<\/p>\n
PSI slips but stays in expansion, easing to 50.9 from 51.5 and remaining above the 50 threshold.<\/p>\n
Growth below long-run average, with January\u2019s reading under the historical norm of 52.8.<\/p>\n
Activity and new orders positive, signalling ongoing turnover and forward demand support.<\/p>\n
Employment and inventories weak, both in contraction, pointing to cautious hiring and stock management.<\/p>\n
Confidence still fragile, with negative commentary rising despite signs the broader economy is stabilising.<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s services sector remained in expansion territory at the start of 2026, although momentum eased slightly from the previous month.<\/p>\n
The BNZ\u2013BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) slipped to 50.9 in January from 51.5 in December. While still above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction, the reading was 0.8 points lower on the month and below the long-run survey average of 52.8. The data suggest the sector is growing, but only modestly, and remains some distance from a robust recovery.<\/p>\n
Within the detail, performance was mixed. Two of the five key sub-indices remained in expansion. Activity and sales led the gains at 54.2, signalling that some firms continue to see solid turnover. New orders also stayed positive at 51.8, pointing to a degree of forward demand. However, stocks\/inventories fell back into contraction at 49.7, while employment weakened further to 49.1, indicating ongoing caution around hiring.<\/p>\n
Business sentiment remains fragile. Nearly 59% of comments received in January were negative, a noticeable increase from December and November. Respondents cited a combination of seasonal factors \u2014 including the Christmas\u2013New Year holiday period and related shutdowns \u2014 alongside subdued enquiry levels and an extended post-holiday lull. Elevated living and operating costs were also highlighted as ongoing pressures.<\/p>\n
The composite Performance of Composite Index (PCI), which combines services and manufacturing indicators, eased to 52.5 from a previously reported 53.9. Despite the pullback, it continues to signal overall economic expansion.<\/p>\n
BNZ economists argue that the broader data flow suggests the economy may be turning a corner after a challenging period. While growth remains uneven and confidence subdued, recent indicators have been consistent with a gradual stabilisation in activity.<\/p>\n
The January readings reinforce the narrative of an economy moving forward, but cautiously. Expansion is present, though not yet broad-based, and labour market softness remains a key area to watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NZ services expand modestly, but confidence and hiring remain subdued. Summary: PSI slips but stays in expansion, easing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-286194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}