Monthly Economic Indicators - February 2013

Monday, 4 March 2013, 3:53 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Treasury

Monthly Economic Indicators - February 2013

Please find attached a copy of the February Monthly Economic Indicators (MEI). The report provides a summary of recent economic events.
• Domestic demand is looking more positive, especially compared to other advanced economies. This contributed to an increase in the NZ dollar.

• Retail trade volumes surged in the December quarter, helped by a seasonal rise in fuel sales, falling imported durable goods prices and rising housing activity.

• The labour market appears weaker than anticipated, although the consequences for economy-wide hours, earnings and tax are not as significant.

• The global outlook has continued to improve, although this trend is not universal.

Monthly_Eonomic_Indicators__February_2013.pdf

Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH > >

TPP: A Global Fair Deal On Copyright - OurFairDeal.org

Alastair Thompson: The orginal "A Fair Deal" campaign brought together Internet NZ with a bunch of other groups including the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, the Creative Freedom Foundation , NZ Rise , Trademe and Kiwiblog's David Farrar. OurFairDeal.org takes the NZ based campaigns a giant leap forward bringing together 84 lobby groups from across the Asia Pacific in 6 countries into a global alliance. More>>

ALSO:

InternetNZ - NZ-born Fair Deal Coalition Gets Global Makeover
Out-Link - Home | Our Fair Deal

Business.Scoop: NZOG's Griffiths Backs Director Liability On Health, Safety

New Zealand Oil & Gas chairman Peter Griffiths has thrown his support behind legislative moves to make directors liable if the companies they govern fail to meet health and safety obligations. More>>

ALSO:

NZ Govt - Health and safety guidelines for directors launched

Working On It: Update On Meat Shipments

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has provided an update on progress being made in resolving the delays in clearance for some meat exports to China... “New Zealand is a trading nation and from time to time these kind of technical delays will occur. This is a temporary issue, but we’re confident it can be resolved,” says Mr Guy. More>>

ALSO:

NZ Govt - Update on meat consignment
Labour - Money traders before meat traders - Government
Labour - Mixed meat messages raise alarm bells
Hamish Cardwell - PM Post-Cabinet Press Conference - 20 May 2013
Image via Lawrence and Gibson - “Survival Of The Friendliest” Serves Publishers Well

Scoop Business: NZ’s Services Sector Expands At Fastest Clip In 5 Mths

New Zealand’s services sector, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity, expanded at the fastest pace since October last month, led by activity/sales. More>>

ALSO:

BusinessNZ - Golden Weather Continues

Scoop Business: MRP Senior Managers In Line For $1.2M In Bonus Shares

Senior executives of newly listed, state-controlled MightyRiverPower are in line for shares in lieu of cash bonuses worth $1.2 million for the year to June 30, one of the company’s first disclosures to the NZX and ASX as a listed company show. More>>

ALSO:

Mighty River Power - IPO signals next phase in evolution of Mighty River Power
Scoop Business - 20/5 MightyRiverPower shares dip below $2.50 offer price

Scoop Business: NZ Houses Overvalued By 25%, IMF Says

New Zealand housing is already overvalued by about 25 percent and if it continues to rise may force the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates, according to the International Monetary Fund. More>>

ALSO:

International Monetary Fund - IMF Concludes Consultation with New Zealand, Releases Report
NZ Govt - IMF confirms New Zealand has the right balance
Greens - IMF confirms National’s failure to rebalance economy

Odometer Moments: CO2 Hits 400ppm

As the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit the symbolic milestone of 400 parts per million (ppm), youth climate change organisation Generation Zero says it is time for New Zealand to rise to the challenge of building a zero carbon future. More>>

Trust Planned: Shared Vision For Mackenzie Basin Welcomed

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Environment Minister Amy Adams today welcomed a report proposing a way to manage the contentious land intensification, water, landscape, and biodiversity issues in the Mackenzie Basin. More>>