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Source: ONE News -
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Gross domestic product (GDP) figures released on Wednesday show the New Zealand economy grew slowly for the second quarter in a row.
Statistics New Zealand says GDP rose by 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the September quarter - the same rise it recorded for the June quarter, following five quarters of contraction.
Financial markets were expecting September quarter growth of 0.3-0.4%.
GDP contracted 1.3% for the year ended September 2009.
Statistics NZ says that, in level terms, economic activity during the September quarter was 2.9% lower than in the December 2007 quarter when economic activity last peaked.
"The economy continued to grow slowly in the September 2009 quarter, and the picture across industries was mixed," says Statistics NZ national accounts manager Rachael Milicich.
"On the production side of the economy, mining and business services showed the largest increases."
By industry, the largest movements were:
.. real estate and business services, up 2.2%, driven by business services
.. mining activity, up 11.1%, driven by an increase in both extraction (mainly offshore oil production), and exploration (as measured by metres drilled)
.. manufacturing activity, down 1.9%, and now back to the June 1999 quarter level
.. construction activity, down 4.4%, the sixth decrease in the last seven quarters.
The volume of spending by New Zealand households was up 0.8% in the September quarter.
Spending on durable goods (big-ticket items such as furniture, appliances, and cars) was up 2.0%, and spending on services also increased. Household spending on non-durables (which includes alcohol and food) fell 0.8%.
Investment in fixed assets, measured by gross fixed capital formation, was down 1.8% in the quarter. The largest contributors to the decline were plant, machinery, and equipment investment (down 8.0%), other construction, which includes roads and bridges (down 9.3%), and residential building (down 5.0%).
