Sweden Jobless Rate Climbs to 8.9% as Producer Prices Rebound

Sweden’s labour-market picture weakened in July, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rising to 8.9%. The reading exceeded economists’ 8.6% consensus and marked an increase from 8.3% in June. On a non-adjusted basis, unemployment stood at 8.0%, improving from 9.4% a year earlier. Separate figures for the same month showed producer prices edging higher. The Producer Price Index increased 1.1% from June, reversing the prior month’s 0.6% decline. Compared with a year earlier, prices were 0.6% lower, a narrower drop than the 3.1% annual fall recorded in June.