Sweden: Economic sentiment picks up in February
Economic sentiment came in at 92.2 in February, up from January’s 90.8. February’s result marked the best performance since September 2022. Despite the uptick, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected less downbeat sentiment in the construction sector. Meanwhile, sentiment in the industrial sector was stable. Less positively, confidence in the services and in the retail sectors softened in February. Lastly, consumer sentiment was up in February.
Considering indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations deteriorated, and the economic uncertainty index fell in February.