Sweden Producer Prices Rise, Retail Sales Growth Remains Stable

(RTTNews) - Producer prices in Sweden increased for the first time in three months in November, while retail sales grew at a stable rate, separate reports from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday.

The producer price index rose 0.3 percent year-on-year in November, reversing a 1.3 percent fall in the previous month.

Costs for energy-related goods tumbled by 10.0 percent from last year, while those for capital and consumer goods rose by 3.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The annual rate of the producer price index, excluding energy-related products, showed an increase of 2.2 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices grew at an accelerated pace of 3.1 percent versus a 0.5 percent gain in October.

Retail sales advanced 1.6 percent in November from last year, the same pace as in October. Sales rose for the third successive month. Sales in durables increased by 1.7 percent, and retail sales in consumables rose by 2.2 percent. Monthly, sales showed a decrease of 0.2 percent.

Swedish consumer confidence weakened to a 4-month low of 96.7 in December from 101.6 in November, survey results from the National Institute of Economic Research showed.

The decline was due mainly to consumers expressing less optimistic expectations for both their personal finances and the Swedish economy, the survey said.