New Zealand Services PMI for July plunges into contraction to 47.8 (prior 50.1)

<p>Business New Zealand's Performance of Services Index for July 2023 comes in at 47.8</p><ul><li>June's reading was revised from 49.6 to 50.1</li><li>July's 47.8 is the lowest level of activity for the sector since January 2022</li><li>the long-term average is 53.5 </li></ul><p>BusinessNZ comment:</p><ul><li>“The further fall into contraction during July also saw another lift in the proportion of negative comments, which rose to 67%, compared with 55.6% in June and 49.4% in May. Overall, negative comments received were strongly dominated by a general downturn in the economic conditions/slowing economy, as well as ongoing increased costs”.
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BNZ comment:</p><ul><li>“the results all point to a sharp drop in demand in July, significantly accelerating the slowing trend that had been evident for many months”</li></ul>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.