The number of employed people is now almost back to the peak levels from two to three years ago and unemployment has started to turn downward, albeit from high levels, according to figures from Statistics Sweden.
But that doesn't tell the whole truth. If we look at hours worked, for example, the trend has been downward over the past three years, says Alexandra Stråberg, chief economist at Länsförsäkringar.
100,000 more
This indicates that Swedes work less than they want to and are able to.
This means that these people are underemployed, or you could call them partially unemployed, she continues.
Statistics Sweden figures show that the group of underemployed has grown by almost 100,000 people to just over 400,000, or around seven percent of the workforce.
It can range from gig workers to part-time employees in retail.
If you add that figure to the regular unemployment statistics of around eight percent, the situation on the job market looks worse than at first glance, according to Stråberg.
This is a group that I think is often forgotten when we look at the employment figures and talk about how good things look.
She is also pessimistic about how low unemployment can get, even if the Swedish economy were to go into full swing. Previously, before the pandemic, the floor was perhaps around six percent, and it didn't fall below that even during a real boom. Now the floor is more like seven percent, according to Stråberg.
Solve the riddle
This means that structural unemployment has become higher over time.
Structurally unemployed people, meaning those who cannot find work even when the economy is booming, are a serious problem that no one seems to have a good solution for.
Because no government has been able to solve that riddle, says Alexandra Stråberg.
