Sweden's service sector activity contracted for the second straight month in September, and at a faster pace, survey results from Swedbank and the logistics association Silf showed on Wednesday.
The purchasing managers' index, or PMI, for the services sector dropped to 46.3 in September from 48.4 in August.
Any reading below 50 suggests contraction, while a score above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
"With order intake and order backlogs falling to the lowest index levels in seven months, there is a risk that we have not yet seen the bottom in the services economy, which could spill over into the labour market more than we have seen so far," Swedbank analyst Jorgen Kennemar said.
Among components, the employment index accounted for the largest negative contribution to the decline in services PMI, followed by order intake, business volume, and delivery times.
Data also showed that the composite PMI fell to 45.4 in September from 47.6 in August, indicating that the economic slowdown is spreading to a larger part of business life.
