Economic Tendency Survey, Business and consumer, September 2009

The Economic Tendency Indicator, which measures business and consumer confidence in the economic situation, rose just over two points from 88.9 in August to 91.0 in September, signalling that business and consumer sentiment has moved from much weaker than normal to weaker than normal.

Business: Retail trade reports strong sales figures On the way up The confidence indicator for the business sector rose a further four points in September and has now increased for six consecutive months. All sectors, except the manufacturing sector, made a positive contribution and the indicator shows a weaker than normal situation in the business sector. The situation was much weaker than normal from last autumn to August. Consumer: Households increasingly optimistic Consumer confidence in the economic situation is increasingly optimistic. The Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI) rose for the fifth consecutive month in September to 5.6 from 3.1 the previous month. Households are currently more optimistic than normal in a historical perspective. Both confidence in personal finances and in the Swedish economy have become more positive, although households are still more pessimistic than normal about the Swedish economy. Roger Knudsen, head of unit for Economic Tendency Survey, phone: 08-453 59 06 or 070-491 36 04 Maria Billstam, Director Consumer Tendency Survey phone: 08-453 59 04