Swedish traders continue to look bleakly at the future, the Trade Barometer for May shows. Retail trade shows a decline of 2.4 units compared with the previous month, to a value of 89.8. Since the neutral value is 100, it means that the retail trade believes in a couple of tough months ahead, the industry organization Svensk Handel writes in a press release.
“Swedish retailers expect consumers to keep their wallets tighter,” says Sofia Larsen, CEO of Swedish Trade.
The reasons are, among other things, supply problems, high inflation and a slowdown in the economy.
Wholesale and e-commerce are also pessimistic about the future. However, e-retailers see slightly brighter sales in the industry, compared with the previous month, but expectations of the number of employees and profitability look worse.
Svensk Handels Framtidsindikator summarizes traders’ beliefs about future sales, willingness to hire and profitability over the next three months.