Business confidence in New Zealand continues to rise, ANZ survey shows

“Business optimism continues to rise, with forward-looking activity indicators higher again, and a decent lift in reported past activity and employment,” says ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner. The construction sector turnaround was particularly notable, she said. Business confidence rose another 5 points to +66 in October, while expected own activity ticked up 1 point to +46.

Experienced own activity lifted 8 points to -11, its highest level since March. “That said, both past activity and employment remain in negative territory for every sector except agriculture, indicating more firms are reporting they are lower than are saying they are higher, compared to a year earlier,” she said..