WELLINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Growth in New Zealand's services sector slowed last month, according to the latest performance of services index (PSI) out Monday.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand PSI for September was 54.1, down 3.8 points from August, on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction.
Business New Zealand chief executive Kirk Hope said that while the September result still indicated healthy expansion, comments from respondents to the PSI survey tended to show seasonal factors at play that gave pause to expansion.
"A number of those who provided negative comments tended to focus on current weather conditions, as well as school holidays affecting operations," Hope said in a statement.
BNZ senior economist Doug Steel referred to a similar PSI level for July, saying "the monthly volatility" showed some trend slowing in the PSI over recent months.
"It appears firms' difficulty in finding staff is one of the obviously many factors involved," Steel said in the statement.
The GDP-weighted performance of composite index, which combines the performance of manufacturing index and the PSI, was down 2.9 points from August to 54.6.
