PRESS RELEASE ECONOMIC TENDENCY SURVEY DECEMBER 2009
Economic Tendency Survey
Business and consumer. December 2009
The Economic Tendency Indicator, which measures business and consumer confidence in the economic situation, rose from 98.9 in November to 101.6 in December. The level of the indicator thus signals that business and consumer sentiment is somewhat stronger than normal.
All sectors, except the household sector, made a positive contribution to this rise.The confidence indicator for the manufacturing industry has risen one point since last month and still signals a weaker than normal situation. The situation in the construction sector is also weaker than normal, as previously. However, the confidence indicator has risen four points. The situation in the retail trade remains much stronger than normal and the confidence indicator has risen a further four points. The confidence indicator for the private service sector has risen a full eight points since last month to a level signalling a somewhat stronger than normal situation in the service sector.
The Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI) fell nearly three points between November and December. However, its level remains above the historic average, indicating that households are somewhat more optimistic than normal.
Economic Tendency Indicator
| 100
|
116,9
|
71,9
|
94,9
|
98,9
|
101,6
|
+
|
¹) ++ The situation is very strong, + The situation is strong, - The situation is weak, -- The situation is very weak²) Mean-, max- and minvalue from 2001.
The confidence indicator for the business sector rose six points in December and has now risen for nine consecutive months. All economic sectors made a positive contribution and the indicator´s level shows that the situation in the business sector is somewhat stronger than normal. It is currently at its highest level since the spring of 2008. The strong situation in the retail trade in particular boosted the level, but the situation in the private service sector is now somewhat stronger than normal.
Consumer confidence in the economy was somewhat more negative in December than the previous month and the Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI) has fallen from 11.4 to 8.8. Households are somewhat less optimistic about both their personal finances and the Swedish economy. Attitudes to whether it is currently the right time to purchase consumer durables are also more negative, as are expectations about the future employment trend.
Published: 22 December 2009
