Stockholm economy: growth continues

Wages continued to grow in Stockholm during the fourth quarter of 2012. The biggest increase was in the public sector. Growth softened in the private sector; business startups were fewer and the labor market weakened with an increase in layoffs and the number of unemployed. However, overall employment increased at the same time. These are the results of the latest Stockholm Economy report.

Wages grew by 5.2 percent in Stockholm county during the fourth quarter of 2012 and by 3.9 percent in the City of Stockholm compared to the previous quarter. Thus growth increased further in the county but softened in the city. The public sector continues to be the engine of growth. The rest of Sweden grew by 3.6 percent. Education, hospitality and financial services were the strongest industries in the county during the quarter.

"The situation in Stockholm is stable. The public sector compensated to the somewhat subdued growth in the private sector during the fourth quarter. Retail sales and the labor market weakened but were stronger overall than the rest of Sweden. Employment also continued to grow," says Olof Zetterberg, CEO, Stockholm Business Region.

The number of employed continued to grow during the quarter by a total of 16,700, mostly in the City of Stockholm. However, the number of unemployed rose by 0.5 percentage points in the county and 0.2 in the city compared to the same quarter in 2011. This is due to the continued robust population growth (35,533) in the county, where three out of four new arrivals become part of the labor force.

Download the report in full: www.stockholmbusinessregion.se/stockholmskonjunkturen

For further information:
Per Holmlund, PR Manager
+46 70 472 80 69, per.holmlund@stockholm.se