Growth in New Zealand's services sector continued to accelerate last month, according to the latest performance of services index (PSI) out Monday.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand PSI for September was 58, on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction, which was 0.3 points up from August.
The latest reading puts the PSI at a monthly average of 56.7 for the year so far.
"Looking at the combined results for July-September, it shows that the sector experienced its highest overall level of quarterly expansion since 2007," Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O 'Reilly said in a statement.
"In addition, both new orders/business and activity/sales displayed results above the 60-point mark, which are key determinants for the overall result."
For the fourth month in a row, all five main sub-indices were in expansion, with new orders/business at 61, activity/sales at 60. 3, employment at 55, supplier deliveries at 53.2 and stocks/ inventories at 50.7.
The GDP-weighted BNZ-Business New Zealand performance of composite index, which combines the performance of manufacturing index of 58.1 and PSI, for September rose 0.4 points from August to stand at 58.2. Enditem