Wall Street Journal said Sweden’s purchasing managers’ index for the service sector rose again in December, a further sign that the outlook for the economy is improving.

Service sector PMI rose to 57.7 from 57.0 in November, index compiler Swedbank said, marking a sixth month above the 50 mark.

Sweden’s economy bounced back quickly from the first phase of the global financial crisis in 2008, the Journal said, but the drawn-out downturn across Europe has weighed on the export-dependent Nordic state’s progress since then.