The labour market in Sweden was ‘subdued’ in October 2024, new data from Statistics Sweden has shown, with the number of employed people standing at 5.19 million.
The unemployment rate in October stood at 7.8%, or 438,000 people, with seasonally-adjusted data showing a small decrease in the number of employed people, and an increase in the number of unemployed. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.5%.
‘Few major changes’
“In October we see a subdued labour market with few major changes,” commented Sandra Medenica, statistician at Statistics Sweden.
As of October 2024, the total labour force participation rate in Sweden stood at 73.9%, or 5.63 million, with the rate among women standing at 71.7%, and among men at 76.1%. The number of women in the labour force totalled 2.69 million for the month, while the number of men amounted to 2.94 million.
Elsewhere, the total number of hours worked per week was 175.8 million, which decreased to 154.6 million when seasonally adjusted.
Unemployment was higher among women (8.1%) compared to men (7.5%), the data showed, with 220,000 men and 217,000 women registering as unemployed during the month.
The number of long-term unemployed individuals, defined as those without a job for at least 27 weeks, was 152,000. Unemployment among young people aged 15-24 was 21.3%, with 86,000 of these young people being full-time students.
Additionally, the ‘unused labour supply’, which includes unemployed, underemployed, and latent job seekers, amounted to 22.0 million hours per week (on a 40 hours per week basis), equivalent to 550,000 full-time positions. Read more here.
Business cycle performance
According to separate data published by Statistics Sweden, the business cycle in the country was ‘weak’ in September, with the GDP indicator falling for both the month and the third quarter as a whole.
‘Unemployment continued upwards but a glimpse of light was shown in the private sector production which grew in September,’ it said. Read more here.
