WELLINGTON, Dec 14 Reuters New Zealand39;s economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter as a number of industries including manufacturing and construction saw activity slow and household spending eased.

Official data out on Thursday showed gross domestic product GDP fell 0.3 in the September quarter, lower than analysts39; forecasts of a 0.2 rise. It followed a revised 0.5 increase in the second quarter.

Annual GDP decreased 0.6, Statistics New Zealand data showed. The market had expected an increase of 0.5.

All goodsproducing industries were down in the third quarter, led by a fall in manufacturing, said Ruvani Ratnayake, the national accounts industry and production senior manager at Statistics New Zealand.

The agency added that despite the overall fall in GDP, eight of the country39;s 11 industry categories grew in the quarter with the strongest rises seen in healthcare and social assistance, rental, hiring and real estate services.

The central bank was forecasting quarterly growth of 0.3, and the weakerthanexpected GDP will likely please the Reserve Bank of New Zealand RBNZ, which has repeatedly said it needs slower economic growth to dampen inflation and inflation expectations.

The RBNZ has undertaken its most aggressive policy tightening since 1999, when the official cash rate was introduced, lifting it by 525 basis points since October 2021 to 5.50.

In November, the central bank signalled it could hike rates further if it decided inflation and…