Swedish GDP, Industrial Output Contracts In January

(RTTNews) - Swedish economy and industrial production shrank for the first time in three months in January, separate reports from Statistics Sweden showed on Monday.

Gross domestic product dropped 0.5 percent month-on-month in January, reversing a 0.5 percent growth in December.

"Weaker household consumption as well as lower production in manufacturing and construction contributed to the contraction," Mattias Kain Wyatt, economist at Statistics Sweden, said.

On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 2.0 percent in January, slower than the 3.4 percent rise in the previous month.

Another report showed that industrial production declined 2.1 percent annually in January, in contrast to the 10.1 percent surge a month ago.

The industry for basic metals was the industry with the largest negative development among the largest manufacturing industries, with a decrease of 15.2 percent.

The industry for motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers was the industry with the largest negative development year-on-year among the largest manufacturing industries, with a decrease of 26.1 percent, the agency said.

Production in construction also declined notably by 6.1 percent from last year, and the output produced in the utility sector slid by 5.0 percent. On the other hand, the services segment showed a growth of 5.1 percent.