New Zealand December Services PMI 49.7 (vs. prior 46.5)

An improvement for the services index but still in contraction territory.

BNZ Senior Economist Craig Ebert:

• "the PSI and PMI combined leaves us cautious as to what to expect for the bounce in GDP for Q4, and momentum into the start of 2022. Of course, the immediate factor is how the economy handles Omicron circulating in the community, under the new traffic light system. Movement into the Red setting impacts gathering limits, which is clearly important to many service industries."

ps. The 'red' referred to above is the new COVID-19 restriction level for NZ:

• New Zealand tightened coronavirus restrictions - not as onerous as 2020 or 2021