2017 is underway, and we’d like to wish all our clients and readers a very prosperous New Year. With Donald Trump in the White House, and the lead up to our own general election, it is unlikely to be a boring year.
In this month’s newsletter Gareth Kiernan examines the health of the New Zealand economy at the start of the year, and offers some food for thought.
For those in planning mode, take look at what’s in store from Infometrics this quarter with a breakdown of our upcoming publications and releases.
We continue our regular interview series this month by interviewing Andrew Whiteford, Managing Director, and find out what a day in the life of an economist is like.
Finally, Benje Patterson looks at the Top 10 reasons why New Zealanders are considering living in areas other than Auckland and Wellington.
The New Zealand economy entered 2017 in fine fettle. Despite dairy prices at GlobalDairyTrade auctions having fallen 3.8% since their early December level, the price index is up a massive 66% from its low point in the first quarter of 2016, with whole milk powder prices having risen 77% over the same period. Both price measures hit 2.5-year highs earlier in December.
While many of you have enjoyed putting your feet up over recent weeks, spare a thought for Infometrics’ hardworking team. January is a busy month as we prepare to release a range of reports and data sets so that you can understand the economic backdrop for your sector or region over the year ahead. This short note outlines the key dates you need to keep in mind this month and who to get in touch with if you have any questions.
January is the time of new beginnings and this month we chat to Andrew Whiteford, Managing Director of Infometrics, about his new beginnings in New Zealand, having emigrated here from South Africa 16 years ago. January 2017 also marks the 10th anniversary of Andrew joining Infometrics. During that time he has overseen the development of Infometrics’ Regional Service. Andrew has always been focussed on developing new data sets and making complex data accessible to clients.
Not only has job creation in many regional economies been good of late, but technological improvements and increasingly progressive employers have made remote working arrangements a viable option for some. These observations were inspiration for Benje Patterson in a recent guest Top 10 post on interest.co.nz that considered regional population diaspora in more detail.
