The Purchasing Managers' Index for the private service sector rose to 52.9 in October, from 49.1 in September, according to Swedbank and Silf.
Analysts had on average expected an increase to 50.0 in October, according to a compilation of forecasts made by Bloomberg.
The recovery within the service sector is still slow, according to Swedbank.
”Service companies are choosing to reduce the number of employees, which makes the risk of continued high unemployment great”, says Jörgen Kennemar, responsible for the analysis of the Purchasing Managers' Index, in a press release.
An index value above 50 indicates increased activity in the sector.
