Swedish GDP Expands At Slower Pace; Industrial Output Recovers

(RTTNews) - Sweden's economy grew for the second straight month in April, driven by increased household consumption along with improved production in both goods and service-producing industries, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday.

Separate official data showed that industrial production increased for the first time in four months in April.

Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent month-on-month in April, though slower than the 0.9 percent recovery in the prior month.

"Swedish economic activity increased slightly in April with higher household consumption as well as rising production in both goods and service-producing industries," Melker Pettersson Loberg, economist at Statistics Sweden, said.

On a yearly basis, GDP dropped 0.2 percent after rising 2.1 percent in the prior month. Moreover, this was the first contraction in seven months.

Data showed that household consumption increased by 0.5 percent monthly and by 2.7 percent annually in April.

Another report showed that industrial production advanced 5.0 percent annually in April, in contrast to a 3.4 percent decrease a month ago.

The chemical and pharmaceutical industry alone logged an annual growth of 20.4 percent. Meanwhile, utility sector output was 0.9 percent lower.

Construction output rose at a slower pace of 1.0 percent annually in April, after a 2.7 percent rise a month ago.