Employment in Sweden rose for the second consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2026, while unemployment declined, according to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Sweden.
According to the data, the number of employed people aged 15–74 rose by 51,000 year-on-year, to 5.225 million, in the first quarter. Seasonally adjusted figures, meanwhile, show employment rising to 5.299 million people in the period, corresponding to an employment rate of 69.4%. At the same time, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 8.7%.
‘Continued increase’
“In the first quarter of 2026, we are seeing a continued increase in employment, mainly among women and in the number of fixed-term employments,” commented Ludvig Renberg, statistician at Statistics Sweden’s Labour Force Surveys. “At the same time, the number of underemployed and long-term unemployed increased,”
The number of employed women increased by 43,000 year-on-year to 2.505 million, while youth employment also strengthened, with employment among people aged 15–24 rising by 25,000 to 499,000.
The number of fixed-term employees increased by 48,000 to 602,000, while permanent employment remained broadly stable at 4.125 million workers, Statistics Sweden said.
Signs of strain
Despite stronger employment figures, signs of labour market strain persisted. Underemployment rose by 49,000 compared with the same quarter last year, reaching 401,000 people, while long-term unemployment increased by 22,000 to 194,000 people, Statistics Sweden noted.
Overall unemployment stood at 524,000 people in the first quarter, equivalent to an unadjusted unemployment rate of 9.1%. Youth unemployment remained particularly elevated, at 26.4%, although many unemployed young people were full-time students.
Statistics Sweden also highlighted continuing labour market disparities between Swedish-born and foreign-born workers. Among people aged 20–66, the employment rate for foreign-born individuals rose to 73.3%, compared with 82.2% for Swedish-born workers.
Unemployment among foreign-born individuals nevertheless remained significantly higher at 14.5%, compared to 5.0% for Swedish-born workers. Read more here.
