Around 345,000 people, or 6.5 percent of the workforce, were registered as unemployed with the country's employment agencies at the end of April. Unemployment has fallen slightly since the beginning of the year. Compared with April last year, there are around 19,000 fewer unemployed people now.
"In broad terms, we see that the development of the labor market so far follows our forecast from December despite the uncertain situation in the world," says Lars Lindvall, head of forecasting at the Swedish Public Employment Service, in a press release.
Unemployment figures vary across the country. Skåne County has the highest unemployment rate, at 8.4 percent, while Norrbotten has the lowest, at 3.7 percent.
The number of people given notice of termination was nearly 3,700, compared with 5,700 in March and 5,300 in April last year.
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.
Unemployment according to the Swedish Public Employment Service (April): 6.5 percent.
Unemployment according to Statistics Sweden (March): 9.7 percent.
The Public Employment Service counts people actually registered with the agencies and uses a narrower age range. Total unemployment is measured in the 16-66 age group. Youth unemployment refers to young people between 18 and 24 years of age.
Statistics Sweden (SCB) uses a sample survey. The age range is 15-74 years for total unemployment and 15-24 years for youth unemployment.
Under 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 be waiting for a summer job that will start later, to be counted as unemployed.
Source: Swedish Employment Service, Statistics Sweden, TT
