New Zealand economy lurches sharply into reverse

Agriculture and construction were the main contributors to the decline. Primary industry, which accounts for over 50 percent of New Zealands export trade, recorded its largest quarterly decline in a decadedown 4.1 percentdespite booming returns in dairy farming. A 5.2 percent fall in construction and 1.2 percent fall in manufacturing were responsible for a total 1.9 percent decline in the goods producing sectorthe largest fall since June 2000.

The rapid onset of recession has produced a rash of gloomy headlines. Economy on the skids, The only good newsit wasnt any worse, Cracks open in property sector, Current account deficit soars, Shares slump over 50 percent The sorry list of finance company failures, Wellington building firm collapses, Sharemarket bashed in the bear pit summarised the outlook for one single week in June.

The grim figures confirm what working people have been experiencing, with increasing alarm, for the past six monthsa brutal and rapidly deepening assault on their standard of living. As the economy has shrunk, households have simultaneously been hit by soaring petrol and food prices, the highest interest rates in the OECD and falling house prices.

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