The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce presents the Stockholm barometer survey, where we can see that economic growth is beginning to take off. The situation of the industry has stabilized and the economy is better again.
In other words, this is generally positive but there are some warning signs that must be handled in a better way, for example the labor market.
The labor market in Stockholm continues to weaken during the third quarter. For the fourth quarter, the number of employees continues to decline within most industries. Most cuts are planned in the construction industry, but also in wholesale trade, trade among motor vehicles and manufacturing. Despite the slightly stronger state of the market, Stockholm County is affected even during the third quarter, reducing the number of employees in all industries.
Retail trade develops positively in the third quarter, confirming strong consumption among people. Infrequently bought product trade is considerably strengthened, the general dealer sector continues to show steady growth and trade of motor vehicles has increased sales for the first time in nearly two years.
Mission Operations - The service sector improved significantly during the third quarter, showing strong growth. The demand for business services is increasing and is expected to continue to increase clearly in the future. Enterprise operations develop and new recruits are scheduled to increase.
The manufacturing industry - The production volume increases significantly and profitability continues to increase but still at a slower pace than before. Production capacity is unchanged, which may be related to last quarter's sharp rise. The number of employees continues to decline, but not to the same extent as in previous quarters. The outlook for employment in the future remains negative.
The economy in Stockholm County will be improved during the third quarter of 2009. When the economic indicator increases from -5 to 3 it means that the business in Stockholm is showing growth again, which on a quarterly basis has not been showed since the second quarter of 2008.
The financial crisis contributed greatly to the deterioration of the economy in Stockholm but the capital seems to be doing well compared to the rest of the country during the last economic cycle. The economic indicator value of 3 is lower than the average since the year of 2000 at 11, but the gap is shrinking. The country as a whole is strengthened from -13 to -1. This means that Stockholm will help to strengthen the entire national economy.
Cecilia Helland