Finland: Economic activity cools in February with full impact of coronavirus yet to be felt
Economic activity grew a working-day adjusted 1.0% in February from the same month a year earlier, down from January’s revised 1.4% reading (previously reported: +1.7% year-on-year), according to Statistics Finland’s latest monthly Trend Indicator of Output release.
The deceleration in February was driven by a steeper fall in the primary sector—encapsulating agriculture, forestry and fishing sub-sectors—which posted a contraction for the sixth month running, and a softer expansion in the services sector. Contrastingly, growth in the secondary sector—which includes manufacturing and construction—picked up marginally from last month.
A month-on-month comparison showed that economic activity on a seasonally-adjusted basis expanded 0.4% in February, having flatlined in January’s revised reading (previously reported: +0.3% yoy). Meanwhile, average annual growth in economic activity in February was unchanged from last month at 1.2%.