Brighter signals from manufacturing

The Economic Tendency Indicator climbed 3.6 points to 97.1 in January, thanks mainly to stronger signals from manufacturing, but still shows weaker sentiment than normal in the economy.

The confidence indicator for the manufacturing industry jumped 7.0 points to 101.8, and now suggests a stronger situation than normal. The increase was due primarily to more optimistic production plans for the next three months.

The confidence indicator for the building and civil engineering industry was largely unchanged and continues to show slightly stronger sentiment than normal. It was again firms’ view of their order books that kept the indicator above the historical average.

The confidence indicator for the retail trade fell slightly in January but remains well above normal. As in December, the high level of the indicator is mainly a result of strong signals from food retailers.

The confidence indicator for the service sector climbed 2.2 points to 93.2, thanks to a more positive view of demand in recent months and more optimistic expectations for demand in the coming months.

The consumer confidence indicator fell 2.1 points to 92.6 to show even more subdued sentiment than normal. The fall was chiefly a result of consumers being less optimistic about their personal finances over the coming year. The low level of the indicator is, however, mainly due to pessimistic expectations for the Swedish economy over the same period.