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The New Zealand services sector expanded to a record in November as activity leading up to the busy Christmas period picked up, a Business NZ survey showed.
The Performance of Services Index (PSI) rose 4.2 points from October to 62.6, the highest since the survey began eight months ago, Business New Zealand said. A reading above 50 signals the industry is expanding.
"Comments from businesses pointed to a larger than expected influx of activity occurring earlier than expected, along with new areas of sales," Business NZ chief executive Phil Reilly said.
"There were also various comments relating to a pick up in staff numbers, which has certainly borne through with the employment index result."
The new orders/business component of the index was 66, its highest value ever.
