In December, Sweden experienced a notable rise in producer prices for the second consecutive month, marking the quickest acceleration in seven months, according to reports from Statistics Sweden released on Friday. Concurrently, the unemployment rate increased for the first time in a quarter, providing a mixed economic outlook.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) showed a significant rise of 2.0% compared to the previous year, building on the modest 0.3% uptick observed in November. This surge represents the most substantial growth since May when the index had climbed by 2.6%.
Breaking down the components, energy-related goods saw a substantial decrease of 8.8% from the previous year. Meanwhile, prices for capital goods increased by 3.6%, and those for consumer goods rose by 4.5%. Excluding energy-related products, the annual PPI registered a 3.9% growth.
On a month-to-month comparison, producer prices increased by a modest 0.1%, which is a deceleration from the 3.1% increase witnessed in November.
Moreover, the unemployment rate reached an elevated 8.0% in December, a three-month peak, rising from 7.4% in November. A year prior, the unemployment rate was slightly lower at 7.7%. The number of individuals without jobs increased to 454,000, up from 418,000 in the previous month.
