An economist behind a scorecard measuring economic performance says the results show the country is worse off this year than last.
The ASB regional economic scoreboard uses employment, construction, retail trade and housing price statistics to rank New Zealand's 16 regional councils on their economic performance.
Commonwealth Bank economist Chris Tennent-Brown says most of the economic indicators are fairly dismal, but that is to be expected as the recession continues.
Manawatu-Wanganui and Canterbury came out on top of the quarterly index, while Tasman, Nelson and Southland performed the worst.
Mr Tennent-Brown says he hopes signs of recovery will become evident in the next few quarters.
