Stockholm, Aug 26 (IANS): Sweden's producer price inflation eased to a five-month low in July, while the unemployment rate declined for the first time in three months, official figures revealed on Friday.

The figures from Statistics Sweden showed that producer price index climbed 20.4 per cent year-on-year in July, slower than the 25.6 per cent surge in June, reports dpa news agency.

This was the slowest rate of increase since February, when prices had risen 19.3 per cent.

Prices for energy related goods jumped 55.6 per cent from last year and those for consumer goods gained 14.4 per cent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.5 per cent in July.

Data also showed that import prices grew sharply by 32.0 per cent yearly in July and rose 0.6 per cent from a month ago.

Export prices increased 21.1 per cent in July compared to last year, while they fell 1.8 per cent from June.

Separate data from the statistical office showed that the jobless rate decreased to 6.4 per cent in July from 8.6 per cent in the previous month.

There were 373,000 unemployed people in July, a decrease of 82,000 compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the employment rate rose to 71.7 per cent in July from 70.7 per cent in the prior month.