Sweden PPI Inflation Eases; Jobless Rate Falls

(RTTNews) - Sweden's producer price inflation eased to a five-month low in July, while the jobless rate declined for the first time in three months, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday.

The producer price index climbed 20.4 percent year-on-year in July, slower than the 25.6 percent surge in June.

This was the slowest rate of increase since February, when prices had risen 19.3 percent.

Prices for energy related goods jumped 55.6 percent from last year and those for consumer goods gained 14.4 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.5 percent in July.

Data also showed that import prices grew sharply by 32.0 percent yearly in July and rose 0.6 percent from a month ago.

Export prices increased 21.1 percent in July compared to last year, while they fell 1.8 percent from June.

Separate data from the statistical office showed that the jobless rate decreased to 6.4 percent in July from 8.6 percent in the previous month.

There were 373,000 unemployed people in July, a decrease of 82,000 compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the employment rate rose to 71.7 percent in July from 70.7 percent in the prior month.