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Swedish Confidence Levels ‘Surprise’ Despite Slowdown Signs

Swedish Confidence Levels ‘Surprise’ Despite Slowdown Signs

(Bloomberg) -- Swedish confidence levels among both manufacturers and consumers bounced back in April despite rising unemployment rates and growing signs of a slowdown in the Nordic region’s largest economy.

The Economic Tendency Indicator rose to 102.7 from March’s revised reading of 101.9, the National Institute of Economic Research in Stockholm said Thursday. A survey of economists by Bloomberg had pointed to a median estimate of 101.0.

Swedish Confidence Levels ‘Surprise’ Despite Slowdown Signs

Key Insights

  • According to NIER, manufacturing confidence rose to 108.4 while consumer confidence rose to 95.8, remaining clearly below its historical average
  • The confidence data coincides with the publication of the Riksbank’s latest rate decision later on Thursday
  • The overall tendency indicator is based on monthly surveys of approximately 6,000 companies and 1,500 households. A reading above 100 indicates a stronger than normal economy, while values between 90 and 100 show a weaker than normal economy. It has been consistently above 100 since the middle of 2015.

What Economists Say

  • Jesper Petersen at Danske Bank called Thursday’s estimates “surprising,” pointing to strong confidence in manufacturing and an “apparent disconnect vis-a-vis German data.”

Market Reaction

  • The krona gained as much as 0.20 percent on the news and was trading at 10.5116 per euro at 09:10 a.m.

Know More

  • For more, see this table

To contact the reporter on this story: Rafaela Lindeberg in Stockholm at rlindeberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jonas Bergman at jbergman@bloomberg.net, Nick Rigillo

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