The proportion of unemployed people increased to 9.0 percent of the workforce compared to 8.9 percent in September and August, according to seasonally adjusted and trended values reported on Friday in Statistics Sweden's Labour Force Surveys (AKU).
According to the Swedish Public Employment Service's statistics presented earlier this week, 6.8 percent of the registered workforce was registered as unemployed in October, which was a small decrease compared to the previous month.
Difficult to navigate
But which of the two surveys best reflects what unemployment in Sweden actually looks like in the fall of 2025?
"I currently place more importance on the Employment Service's figures. They show a clear turnaround and that unemployment is falling. There are now fewer registered unemployed than a year ago," says Susanne Spector, chief economist at Danske Bank.
She emphasizes that it is difficult to navigate labor market statistics that are produced using different methods and samples. SCB's labor force surveys are volatile and have become clearly more volatile over time, according to Spector.
I have great confidence that at the Swedish Public Employment Service we are seeing clearly fewer short-term unemployed and we are seeing a significantly smaller influx into unemployment. This indicates that fewer people are losing their jobs and that it has become somewhat easier to find a job.
Many factors
But how certain is it that Sweden, month after month, is among the three countries in the EU with the highest unemployment, when that statistic is based on Statistics Sweden's LFS?
I think one should be careful about drawing that conclusion. On the one hand, the unemployment measure captures different things in different countries. It depends on how benefit systems are designed in certain countries with activation requirements or not. It also depends on how student finance systems are designed. So there are many institutional factors, says Susanne Spector.
It is also difficult to compare unemployment over time because there was a major overhaul of statistics at the EU level in 2021 when the requirement to be counted as unemployed was relaxed.
"You sometimes hear that we have the highest unemployment rate in 10-20 years. But it's not really possible to compare the figures before 2021 with the figures we see today. If we look at employment agency statistics, unemployment is far below the levels after the financial crisis, for example," she says.
Beatrice Nordensson/TT
Facts: Why the numbers differ
TT
The Swedish Public Employment Service and Statistics Sweden report unemployment in Sweden every month. However, the statistics differ, often quite significantly, as a result of the authorities measuring in different ways.
The employment service uses those actually registered with the agencies. And also has a narrower age range. Total unemployment is measured in the age range 16-65 years. Youth unemployment refers to young people between 18 and 24 years.
Statistics Sweden (SCB) uses a sample survey. The age range is 15-74 years for total unemployment and 15-24 years for youth unemployment.
In Statistics Sweden's measurement method (which is based on international criteria), a large proportion of full-time students are also counted as young unemployed. It is often enough for a full-time student to want an extra job, or to wait for a summer job that will start later, to be counted as unemployed.
Source: Swedish Employment Service, Statistics Sweden
