Talking Points:
- Sweden’s Unemployment Rate drops to 7.0% in December from 7.4% in November
- Finance Ministry lowers growth forecast to 2.4% for 2015 and 2.7% for 2016
- EURSEK moves off 2015 high; support found near 9.2500
At 7.0%, unemployment in Sweden came in well below the 7.4% consensus. Among those aged 15-74, 83K additional people were gainfully employed in December of 2014 when compared to the same month in 2013. With an employment rate 0.7pp higher (65.9%) the number of hours worked increased by 1.8% for an average of 141 million hours per week. This better than expected Labor Force Survey should come as welcome news to the Finance Ministry who, on Tuesday, issued a press release pertaining to the slow recovery in Sweden’s economy.
In the presence of significant downside risks to global growth, Finance Minister Magdalena Anderson, lowered Sweden’s growth forecast to 2.4% for this year (down from 3.0%) and 2.7% for 2016 (down from 3.2%). Consequently, public finances are expected to a show a deficit through the forecasted period. Furthermore, as net lending weakens, the unemployment rate is expected to average 7.7% this year. However, December’s figure comes in closer to the 7.3% forecasted in October’s Budget Bill.
EUR/SEK Daily Chart
Chart Created by Walker England Using MarketScope2.0
