Sweden Economic Confidence Weakens In March

(RTTNews) - Sweden's economic confidence decreased further in March to the lowest level in five months, while consumers expressed a more pessimistic outlook, survey results published by the National Institute of Economic Research showed on Wednesday.

The economic tendency index dropped to 95.2 in March from 96.7 in February. Moreover, the index was below the normal level of 100.

The index measuring confidence in the trade sector eased sharply to 103.0 from 108.7 as firms' perception of the current sales situation is more negative than usual. Nonetheless, the sector continued to exhibit the strongest sentiment.

The index for the private service sector confidence dropped to 97.9 from 99.7 amid concerns of order volumes.

Meanwhile, the confidence index for the manufacturing sector marginally increased to 96.4 from 95.6 but remained the weakest sector within the business sector.

The survey revealed building and civil engineering industry confidence strengthened to 101.6 from 98.6 as firms anticipate an increase in construction over the next three months.

The survey showed that consumer confidence weakened to an 11-month low of 89.8 in March from 94.6 in the previous month, reflecting a significantly weaker sentiment than normal.