Sweden Producer Prices Rise Most In 7 Months, Jobless Rate At 3-Month High

(RTTNews) - Producer prices in Sweden increased for the second straight month in December and at the fastest pace in seven months, while the jobless rate rose for the first time in three months, separate reports from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday.

The producer price index rose 2.0 percent year-on-year in December, faster than the 0.3 percent rise in the previous month.

Further, this was the steepest increase since May, when prices had risen 2.6 percent.

Costs for energy-related goods tumbled by 8.8 percent from last year, while those for capital and consumer goods rose by 3.6 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.

The annual rate of the producer price index, excluding energy-related products, showed an increase of 3.9 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose at a slower pace of 0.1 percent versus a 3.1 percent gain in November.

The unemployment rate rose to a 3-month high of 8.0 percent in December from 7.4 percent in November. A year ago, the rate was 7.7 percent.

The number of unemployed people was 454,000 compared to 418,000 in the previous month.