In Sweden, industrial production increased by 0.4 percent in March this year compared to February, and was down 6.5 percent year on year in working day-adjusted figures, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB). New orders for the Swedish industry increased by two percent in seasonally adjusted figures in March compared to February. In March, new orders decreased by 6.4 percent in working day-adjusted figures compared to the same month of the previous year.
In the first quarter of this year, new orders for basic metals in Sweden increased 1.3 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, while new orders for the Swedish fabricated metal products industry, except machinery and equipment, decreased by one percent in January-March this year compared to October-December 2011.
On the other hand, new domestic orders for the Swedish basic metal industry increased 2.3 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, while new export orders increased by 0.8 percent quarter on quarter. In the period in question, in Swedish manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, new domestic orders increased by four percent compared to the previous quarter, while export orders fell by 10.4 percent from the previous quarter.
SCB also announced that housing construction was at a low level in 2011. A total of 20,064 newly built dwellings were completed in 2011, increasing three percent compared to 2010.