Small businesses have seen a phenomenal rebound in revenue for June.
The Cashel Mall in Christchurch - Canterbury has led regional growth for small businesses, up 3.9 percent on the same month last year. Photo: 123RF
The levels for last month are back to what they were this time last year, according to the latest data from the accounting software firm, Xero.
New Zealand managing director Craig Hudson said it was a significant bounce, considering two months ago firms' revenue was down 39 percent year-on-year.
"What it does show is the strong support that is out there for small business in New Zealand. The local support for small business has been phenomenal and it's good to see it coming through in hard data that businesses are getting up and going again."
He said while the figure was good, there were still a number of businesses doing it tough.
"This is an average number and we need to acknowledge there are some industries that have quite large issues in the near to medium-term.
"There is still quite a bit of pain out there."
Regionally, there were variations as well.
"If you take the anomaly that is Queenstown which is quite a strong lag... they're close to 6-and-a-half percent down on June last year. Auckland was down 2.1 percent."
Revenue for small businesses in Auckland was 2.1 percent down on the same quarter last year, Xero figures show. Photo: 123RF
The majority of regions however, saw growth throughout June, led by Canterbury up 3.9 percent.
Hudson said job numbers dipped slightly in June, in line with when the second round of wage subsidy entitlements began - which were tighter than the first round.
"The hypothesis is [that] businesses were starting to see the impact of not having cash to support those jobs."
However compared to data collected from Xero's other markets, the UK and Australia, New Zealand was leading the charge when it came to job numbers.
"Although New Zealand is down 3.6 percent, this compares to a 6.8 [percent] drop in Australia and 8.5 percent in the UK."
Likewise with revenue, Australia is down 8 percent year-on-year and the UK 18 percent.
He said strong revenue was expected for July as well, given that covered the school holiday period when domestic tourism was strong.
"As far as looking further ahead... my fear is that small businesses need continued support. They don't need a one-off weekend away, we need to be able to support our local businesses on an ongoing basis.
"These results are strong right now, but we don't know what's around the corner."