A fall of 5.5 percentage points to 46.3 for PMI is the biggest decline month to month since the Lehman crash created meltdown in the world's financial markets. At the same time, the index has not been at such a low level since the euro crisis, in early 2013.

The index is produced by Swedbank and the purchasing managers' industry organization, Silf, and consists of five parts: order intake, production, employment, delivery times and stock of purchased material. Special order bookings and inventories indicate the conditions for the industry going forward. What is worth keeping in mind is that it is a monthly figure that can vary greatly from month to month.

Production in industry has been cross-sectional

What stands out is that production in the industry has risen sharply, while the index for the export industry's order intake has fallen sharply. It can be seen as a sign that the industry is experiencing economic turmoil in the world. Germany is Sweden's most important export market and if the economy slows down there, it is noticeable in Sweden. Values ​​below 50 in the index are seen as a sign that industrial growth is slowing down, while a figure above 50 indicates economic growth. The index rarely varies below 40. In today's index, three of five sub-indices were below 50.

At the moment, dull economic signals are tight enough. Such a sharp decline in PMI was unexpected and the krona weakened further against the dollar and the euro. If the economy slows down, it will be more difficult for the Riksbank to reach its target of 2 per cent lasting inflation and raise its policy rate at the end of the year that is now planned.