The Labor Market in Sweden Right Now

Sweden has high unemployment, among the highest in Europe. This is happening at the same time as a relatively high employment rate, as the labor force participation rate from the population is high compared to other European countries.

» Updated: October 08 2024

» Published: September 24 2024

The Labor Market in Sweden Right Now
Photo: Arbetsförmedlingen

Unemployment in August 2024 according to AKU

The Swedish Statistics Office (SCB) has published statistics on the labor market in August 2024. According to the statistics, 5,291,000 people were employed, which is an increase compared to the previous month. The average number of working hours was 131.7 million per week. The number of unemployed was 453,000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 7.9%. Of these, 225,000 women and 228,000 men were unemployed, i.e. 8.2% of women and 7.6% of men.

"The labor market shows signs of caution in August, but some positive signals can be discerned. For example, the seasonally adjusted and smoothed employment rate increases in line with the previous month" says Philip Krantz, statistician at the Labor Force Surveys (AKU) at SCB.

39,857 people registered as unemployed, while 29,727 got a job. Among young people (18-24 years old), the unemployment rate is higher at 8.4%. There is a larger influx of job seekers, 11,651, compared to those who got a job, 4,023. [1]

Statistics from the Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen)

According to the Public Employment Service's statistics, the unemployment rate is 6.8%. [2]

In total

  • 6.8% of the population, corresponding to 360,195 people, were registered as unemployed in August 2024, compared to 6.3% (330,889 people) the previous year.
  • 39,857 people registered as job seekers, compared to 37,664 people the previous year.
  • 29,727 people got a job, compared to 30,072 people the previous year.

Young People 18-24 Years Old

  • 8.4% of young people, corresponding to 45,622 people, were registered as unemployed in August 2024, compared to 7.3% (39,648 people) the previous year.
  • 11,651 young people registered as job seekers, compared to 10,736 people the previous year.
  • 4,023 young people got a job, compared to 4,195 people the previous year.
Michelle KimM
By Michelle Kim - Editor-in-chief

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