Swimming at our picturesque beaches, rivers and lakes is a Kiwi summer staple as many of us have time off in the summer months. Sometimes our favourite swimming spots can become contaminated with unsafe levels of organisms such as E. coli, enterococci and toxic algae which pose a health risks such a... Read

New Zealand’s provincial economies contribute greatly to the overall economy, providing dairy, meat, and horticultural products to the nation and overseas export markets. Read

Yesterday the Reserve Bank accelerated the monetary policy easing cycle, cutting the official cash rate (OCR) by 50 basis points to 4.75%. Markets had priced in a cut of around 50 basis points, although the consensus among analysts was more divided between 25 and 50 basis points. Most retail banks had shifted their forecasts to a 50-basis point cut following the release of NZIER’s Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion on 1 October. Read

Infrastructure investment remains a hot topic across the country, with increasing demands for investment, but more limited amounts of funding available. High cost escalation for network infrastructure in recent years have contributed to a need to spend more than anticipated to get less than anticipated. Read

For people who are unemployed or are looking for a new job opportunity, it is becoming increasingly difficult to land yourself a role. There is a lack of opportunities in the labour market and a surplus of talent looking for jobs, creating a highly competitive environment for job hunters. Read

The New Zealand energy market has been in the spotlight recently, as a shortfall of energy, from both gas and electricity, has sent energy prices soaring. It’s become such an issue that production has started to be curtailed for some operators, either because they cannot procure energy supplies, or it has become economically unviable to pay such high prices. Read

Infometrics welcomes Matthew Allman into our economist team. Matthew joined us in April this year and is already an integral part of the forecasting team. This month we chat with Matthew about what he’s been involved with since he joined Infometrics. Read

Two key themes about the economy came through in NZIER’s latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO), published last week. Firstly, the labour market continues to soften across the board, with a range of labour market indicators at their weakest since around 2009. Secondly, there has been a f... Read

At the peak in mid-2022, on-farm costs rose 15%pa, more than double the peak consumer inflation rate. But inflation has now clearly turned a corner and is moderating, a trend also seen in on-farm costs, with the annual gain to March 2024 just 1.2%pa – the slowest rise since the start of 2021. Read

On National’s campaign trail in 2023, Christopher Luxon set the ambitious goal of doubling exports over the next decade. At the forefront of its strategy to achieve this goal, National set out to conduct a record number of trade missions to open doors for New Zealand exports, including making India ... Read