Auckland confidence bucks positive trend

Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett.

Business confidence in the country's biggest economic powerhouse has dipped again, bucking the rise seen in recent months.

A quarterly survey by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce taken this week found the number of firms who expect business to improve in the next three months has dropped 7 percentage points to 51 per cent, while those expecting business to deteriorate grew from 6 per cent in September to 11 per cent.

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said the result was a sobering reminder that we aren't out of the woods just yet.

"If you look at the last couple of quarters there has been growing confidence but a lot of confidence has been in the hearts and heads of people, none of it has transferred into the profit and loss sheet."

Barnett said people had been feeling better because New Zealand had been less affected by the global financial crisis than expected but sales were still down and now they are headed into a quiet period.

"The December and January period are typically low in revenue because of the holiday shut-down. But businesses still have the big costs of holiday pay to afford."

Barnett said he wouldn't be surprised to see some more failures.

The number of firms finding it harder to hire staff with the right skills rose from 8 per cent to 14 per cent.

"We are starting to see employment intentions coming through."

A larger number of unemployed meant businesses could afford to be more picky but at the same time those who were employed were choosing to stay put rather than move on.

But Barnett said that could change in the New Year when more people considered changing jobs.

He expected demand levels to pick up in February and March but warned there would be no quick fix.

"There will be a slow climb out of this."

Businesses would be better prepared because of the reviews and cut-backs they did this year that would allow them to take advantage of any lift in business.

But Barnett said he was concerned that the financial crisis had still not been enough to shock business people into changing their attitudes and thinking more about exporting.