Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
New stats reveal summer lull for Swedish property market, Spotify pulls out of union negotiations, what's the state of the economy, and the latest news on Storm Hans.
Sweden bids hejdå to Storm Hans
Storm Hans was moving on on Thursday, leaving flooded roads, toppled-over trees and cancelled trains in its wake.
The rain was expected to move further north, and parts of Norrland could expect thunderstorms on Thursday.
Southern and western Sweden could however get a glimpse of the sun on Friday, said weather agency SMHI.
The E6 motorway reopened south of Gothenburg late on Wednesday, but several smaller roads in western Sweden may still be closed due to flooding. There may also be knock-on delays and cancellations of trains in the area on Thursday, as well as in central Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: rain – regn
New stats reveal summer lull for Swedish property market
July – when Swedes clock out for weeks of summer holiday – is usually a slow month for the property market, and that was even more true this year, new statistics appear to show.
According to Svensk Mäklarstatistik, an organisation that keeps data on the real estate market, the price of a detached home rose on average a measly one percent in July, month-on-month, but in the major city regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, prices did not change at all.
When it comes to bostadsrätter – a Swedish kind of condominium and the most popular form of apartment ownership – prices remained unchanged in the big cities, and fell one percent nationwide.
Year-on-year, the price of a bostadsrätt has fallen two percent nationwide, while detached homes are now selling at a price ten percent lower than this time last year, according to Svensk Mäklarstatistik.
Swedish vocabulary: the property market – bostadsmarknaden
Vomit bug behind closure of Swedish mountain lodge
The norovirus – more commonly known as the winter vomiting bug in Sweden – was behind a stomach bug that forced a mountain lodge to shut down after the virus rapidly spread among hikers, presumably mainly via visits to portaloos, regional health authorities said.
They added, however, that it could not be ruled out that water from streams and lakes could also be behind infections, and warned hikers on the Kungsleden trail to boil any water they take from streams and lakes before consuming it, if possible. It’s often safe to drink from flowing streams in the Swedish mountains, but health officials warned there’s always a risk of bacteria or parasites.
Infectious disease doctor Jonas Hansson told Swedish news agency TT that hikers no longer need to avoid the area, and the Kebnekaise mountain lodge reopened for prior bookings on Thursday.
Swedish vocabulary: a portaloo – en bajamaja
What’s the state of the Swedish economy?
Sweden’s National Institute of Economic Research, a public agency that operates under the Finance Ministry, has revised its predictions for the state of the Swedish economy and now believes GDP will fall 0.9 percent this year – 0.5 percentage points more than its last forecast.
“It’s because exports have grown at a weaker pace than we thought, and households have decreased their consumption a little bit more than we thought,” the institute’s director-general, Albin Kainelainen, told TT.
Swedish households have in the past year struggled to cope with rising costs of living and interest rates. The central bank, the Riksbank, is expected to again raise the main interest rate next month.
There’s light on the horizon, however, and next year the economy is expected to grow 1.2 percent.
Swedish vocabulary: gross domestic product (GDP) – bruttonationalprodukt (BNP)
Spotify pulls out of union negotiations
After months of negotiations with Swedish trade unions, streaming giant Spotify pulled out of talks about setting up a collective bargaining agreement for its employees in Sweden.
“While we have a lot of respect for collective bargaining agreements and the Swedish model, our employment conditions and benefits are already just as good or better than what is stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement and our plan remains to keep offering our employees first-rate wages and benefits,” a Spotify spokesperson told startup news site Breakit.
Although nine out of ten employees in Sweden are covered by a collective bargaining agreement – a key feature of the Swedish workplace model – they are less common in the startup and tech bubble.
Swedish vocabulary: a collective bargaining agreement – ett kollektivavtal
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Sweden bids hejdå to Storm Hans
Storm Hans was moving on on Thursday, leaving flooded roads, toppled-over trees and cancelled trains in its wake.
The rain was expected to move further north, and parts of Norrland could expect thunderstorms on Thursday.
Southern and western Sweden could however get a glimpse of the sun on Friday, said weather agency SMHI.
The E6 motorway reopened south of Gothenburg late on Wednesday, but several smaller roads in western Sweden may still be closed due to flooding. There may also be knock-on delays and cancellations of trains in the area on Thursday, as well as in central Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: rain – regn
New stats reveal summer lull for Swedish property market
July – when Swedes clock out for weeks of summer holiday – is usually a slow month for the property market, and that was even more true this year, new statistics appear to show.
According to Svensk Mäklarstatistik, an organisation that keeps data on the real estate market, the price of a detached home rose on average a measly one percent in July, month-on-month, but in the major city regions of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, prices did not change at all.
When it comes to bostadsrätter – a Swedish kind of condominium and the most popular form of apartment ownership – prices remained unchanged in the big cities, and fell one percent nationwide.
Year-on-year, the price of a bostadsrätt has fallen two percent nationwide, while detached homes are now selling at a price ten percent lower than this time last year, according to Svensk Mäklarstatistik.
Swedish vocabulary: the property market – bostadsmarknaden
Vomit bug behind closure of Swedish mountain lodge
The norovirus – more commonly known as the winter vomiting bug in Sweden – was behind a stomach bug that forced a mountain lodge to shut down after the virus rapidly spread among hikers, presumably mainly via visits to portaloos, regional health authorities said.
They added, however, that it could not be ruled out that water from streams and lakes could also be behind infections, and warned hikers on the Kungsleden trail to boil any water they take from streams and lakes before consuming it, if possible. It’s often safe to drink from flowing streams in the Swedish mountains, but health officials warned there’s always a risk of bacteria or parasites.
Infectious disease doctor Jonas Hansson told Swedish news agency TT that hikers no longer need to avoid the area, and the Kebnekaise mountain lodge reopened for prior bookings on Thursday.
Swedish vocabulary: a portaloo – en bajamaja
What’s the state of the Swedish economy?
Sweden’s National Institute of Economic Research, a public agency that operates under the Finance Ministry, has revised its predictions for the state of the Swedish economy and now believes GDP will fall 0.9 percent this year – 0.5 percentage points more than its last forecast.
“It’s because exports have grown at a weaker pace than we thought, and households have decreased their consumption a little bit more than we thought,” the institute’s director-general, Albin Kainelainen, told TT.
Swedish households have in the past year struggled to cope with rising costs of living and interest rates. The central bank, the Riksbank, is expected to again raise the main interest rate next month.
There’s light on the horizon, however, and next year the economy is expected to grow 1.2 percent.
Swedish vocabulary: gross domestic product (GDP) – bruttonationalprodukt (BNP)
Spotify pulls out of union negotiations
After months of negotiations with Swedish trade unions, streaming giant Spotify pulled out of talks about setting up a collective bargaining agreement for its employees in Sweden.
“While we have a lot of respect for collective bargaining agreements and the Swedish model, our employment conditions and benefits are already just as good or better than what is stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement and our plan remains to keep offering our employees first-rate wages and benefits,” a Spotify spokesperson told startup news site Breakit.
Although nine out of ten employees in Sweden are covered by a collective bargaining agreement – a key feature of the Swedish workplace model – they are less common in the startup and tech bubble.
Swedish vocabulary: a collective bargaining agreement – ett kollektivavtal
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