Peter Malmqvist has analyzed the 70 most valued companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Of the 34 companies that had released their figures for the first quarter, profits were significantly higher than experts had predicted. Behind the profit trend is a currency effect from the weak Swedish krona and a China that has come to life economically, says Peter Malmqvist.
But the fact that the export giants' profits are soaring at the same time as wage earners accept shrinking real wages is something you have to live with, says Susanna Gideonsson, chairman of the trade union LO.
"We've been there before and we've chased inflation. It has ended in disaster. Then real wages have really fallen.
Declines in salary
The agreement landed this year on a salary increase of 7.4 percent spread over two years. In practice, this means that wage earners lose real income, i.e. go back when taking into account price increases and inflation.
It is wages in the export industry that set the level for the entire labour market, the so-called mark. At the same time, profits in the same industry have soared without wages keeping up.
Employers, for their part, believe that the entire economy is on the decline.
"The forecasts are pointing downwards and we are in a recession. Pressured companies and their employees face tough times, writes the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's chief economist, Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, to SVT.
"Looks good"
But big business' own figures speak a different language about the future, at least for that part of the economy that is not dependent on the purchasing power of ordinary people.
"If you look at the engineering companies' order books, it looks good. I can't see a decline there this year, says Peter Malmqvist.