Service sector rise might herald inflation's return

Economy Watch · Jan 6, 2025 · 5m

Kia ora,

Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.

And today we lead with news China's financial markets are flashing some unwelcome signals.

But first up today, there were a range of services PMIs for December released overnight. And the most interesting one (for us) is the Aussie one. Their service sector expanded in the month, with new business growth accelerating, inflation rising, and business confidence at its highest level in 2½ years…