Businesses are more confident this month, at least about their own prospects.
The National Bank's monthly survey of business sentiment recorded a dip in firms' views about how the general business environment will go over the next 12 months.
But with 51 per cent of respondents expecting it to improveand just 8 per cent expecting it to get worse, the net 43 per cent optimistic, while down from 48 per cent last month, remains a very high level by the standards of the last 10 years.
Firms are more upbeat than last month when it comes to their own prospects.
A net 34 per cent expect their own activity to rise over the coming year, up from 31 per cent in October.
And a net 5 per cent expect to increase staff numbers, where last month as many expected to shed labour as to increase it.
Investment intentions are up marginally, to levels last seen two years ago, despite a slight drop in expectations of profitability.
The National Bank's senior markets economist, Khoon Goh, said growth readings from the survey continued to point to growing momentum over the coming year, enough for a 3 per cent upswing in economic activity.
That was a respectable improvement, he said, especially considering 73 per cent of respondents expect interest rates to rise over the coming year.
Firms' pricing intentions remained subdued, Goh said, with a net 15 per cent of firms expecting to raise their prices, up only marginally on last month.
"Time still looks to be on the Reserve Bank's side," he said.
"There are likewise few signs of the strong currency having adverse consequences, with export intentions rising to a one-year high."
Among the sectors, construction stands out. It is more optimistic than the others on general conditions, own activity, profitability, employment intentions, pricing intentions and even ease of getting credit. That is founded on improved expectations for residential construction; expectations for commercial construction slumped.
Crystal Ball
* Overall business confidence was a net 43 per cent positive versus 48 per cent in October.
* But own activity outlook strengthened to a net 35 per cent positive from 31 per cent last month.
* Hiring, and to a lesser extent investment, intentions also rose.
