New Zealand: Services and investment boom drive GDP higher

The New Zealand economy has come off recent quarterly highs but is still growing faster than most economists expected. Gross domestic product data released this morning shows a 0.7% rise in GDP for the quarter and a 3.5% rise for the year. This is the largest annual GDP rise since September 2007. If the figure is measured from the same quarter of the previous year, (the method most financial markets use) the rise is even higher - 3.9%, the largest increase since June 2004. By industry, the annual percentage growth, measured in 1995/96 prices, is 1.6% for primary industry, 5.0% for goods producing industries and 2.6% for services.  But on a quarterly basis, it is the services sector which is the star. Services make up roughly two thirds of the economy and activity rose 1.4% for the quarter across all the 11 sub-categories. The largest increases are in advertising, employment services and software development, pointing to businesses following through their responses to investment and hiring intentions surveys with action, according to nbr.com