Ugly headline - net 40% of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to deteriorate compared with 28% pessimism in the previous quarter

  • 33% expected business conditions to worsen, versus 35% pessimism recorded in the previous period
  • capacity utilisation rose to 97.1%, from the previous quarter's 92.7%
  • manufacturing sector is the least pessimistic of the sectors survey but still face many challenges as Omicron's spread impacts deliveries
  • net 56% reported increased costs in the March quarter
  • Overall, businesses are feeling more cautious in an environment of acute labour shortages and intense cost pressures

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Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion

  • Each quarter we ask around 4,300 firms about whether business conditions will deteriorate, stay the same, or improve. The responses yield information about business trends much faster than official statistics and act as valuable leading indicators about the future state of the New Zealand economy.

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