Stockholm, Aug. 26, (dpa-AFX/GNA) - 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% year-on-year in July, slower than the 25.6% surge in June. This was the slowest rate of increase since February, when prices had risen 19.3%.
Prices for energy related goods jumped 55.6% from last year and those for consumer goods gained 14.4%.
On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.5% in July.
Data also showed that import prices grew sharply by 32.0% yearly in July and rose 0.6% from a month ago.
Export prices increased 21.1% in July compared to last year, while they fell 1.8% from June.
Separate data from the statistical office showed that the jobless rate decreased to 6.4% in July from 8.6% 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% in July from 70.7% in the prior month.
GNA