New Zealand Services PMI drops into contraction: economic angst ahead?

The New Zealand Services PMI for ocot:

• BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI)
• dropped into contraction at 48.9 from 50.6 in September
• below the long-term average of 53.5

BusinessNZ comment on the result:

• “Despite the October result falling back into contraction, the proportion of negative comments stood at 58.2% for October, which was down from 61.8% in September and 63.9% in August. Overall, negative comments continued to be strongly dominated by the recent General Election, as well as a general slowdown in the economy”

BNZ comment:

• “combined, the PSI (48.9) and PMI (42.5) paint a picture of economic angst. This counsels caution around GDP for Q3, after it posted a surprising gain of 0.9% in Q2”