Sweden’s services sector has contracted in September, the latest data by Swedbank showed.
The Services Purchasing Managers’ Index was reported at a reading of 49.1 in September, down from a revised down 52.4 in August.
It pointed to the first contraction in activity since May.
The sub-indexes of new orders (49.9 versus 53.6 in August), business volume (48 versus 51.1 in August), delivery times (51.7 versus 55.9 in August) and employment (46.4 versus 48.4 in August) all deteriorated last month.
The gauge of raw and input prices also dropped, to 49.1 in September from 54.1 in August, thus, indicating a continued price pressure from the sector.
The Swedish Krona was 0.46% weaker on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/SEK currency pair last trading at 10.3036.