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Labour Force Surveys (LFS)

Official statistics of Sweden

Upcoming publishing: 2026-10-16

The statistics describe labour market developments for the Swedish population aged 15–74. The LFS shows the number and percentage of employed and unemployed persons respectively, per month, quarter and year. In addition to this, some tables also include people aged 75–89 years.

Labour force surveys (LFS), previous definitions

Labour Force Surveys (LFS), previous definitions

2026-04-22: Information on breakdown by level of education and educational field

Due to discovered quality deficiencies in the LFS regarding breakdowns by level of education and educational field, number estimates including associated margin of error figures are marked with dots in Excel and statistical database tables. The dotted number estimates for level of education and educational field are made from 2012 onwards. The reason for the deficiencies is that the LFS overestimates people with post-secondary education and underestimates people with upper secondary education. Furthermore, it can be stated that the quality deficiencies are greater for number estimates than for share and change estimates.

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Key figures for Sweden

Labour force rate

77.5 %

Reference period: August 2026

1.4 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Unemployment rate

8.5 %

Reference period: August 2026

0.1 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Employment rate

70.9 %

Reference period: August 2026

1.2 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Labour force rate (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

76.2 %

Reference period: August 2026

Unemployment rate  (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

8.7 %

Reference period: August 2026

Employment rate  (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

69.6 %

Reference period: August 2026

Statistical news

Employment is increasing

2026-09-16

In August 2026, there were 5 423 000 employed people, not seasonally adjusted. This represents an increase of 103 000 compared to August 2025. The number of hours worked per week averaged 128.7 million. The number of unemployed people was 505 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in both the number of employed people and in the employment rate. The seasonally adjusted and smoothed unemployment rate stood at 8.7 percent.

All statistical news for this statistic

Tables in the Statistical Database

Publications

Title Language Date
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2026 - Older people's participation in the labour market Swedish 2026-09-10
Background information 2026:1. Unemployed in LFS Swedish 2026-06-10
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2026:1 - Theme: Unemployment in Sweden Swedish 2026-06-09
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 2025 Swedish 2026-02-24
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2025:3 - Theme: Labour Supply and Job Change During the Inflation Period 2022–2023 Swedish 2025-12-16
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2025:2 - Theme: Latent job seekers 2024 Swedish 2025-10-01
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2025:1 - Theme: Work from home and hours worked Swedish 2025-03-25
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2024 Swedish 2025-02-25
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 2024:4 – Theme: Work more or work less? How much do employees in Sweden want to work? Swedish 2024-12-03
Patterns of non-response in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys 2010–2023 Swedish 2024-10-31
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2024:3 - Theme: How do the time series of the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) relate to the business cycle? Swedish 2024-09-24
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2024:2 – Theme: How much do people in Sweden work? Swedish 2024-06-26
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2024:1-Theme: Older people´s participation in the labour market 2001–2023 Swedish 2024-03-26
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2023 Swedish 2024-02-27
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2023 – Theme: Long-term unemployed 2005–2023 Swedish 2023-12-06
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2023 ) – Theme: The development on the labour market for young people Swedish 2023-06-13
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2023 – Theme: Labour market for foreign born in Sweden and the EU Swedish 2023-03-28
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2022 Swedish 2023-02-28
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2022:2 – Theme: Risks of unemployment and chances of employment during the corona pandemic Swedish 2022-12-06
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2022 – Theme: Working from home during the Corona pandemic Swedish 2022-09-13
Labour force surveys (LFS) 2021 Swedish 2022-06-15
Unemployment duration in the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and time out of work at the Swedish Public Employment Service 2016 – A comparative study Swedish 2018-11-13
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National Accounts. Background Facts – Labour and Education Statistics 2016:1 Swedish 2018-07-18
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National Accounts. Background Facts – Labour and Education Statistics 2016:1 English 2018-07-11
Analysis on nonresponse bias for the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) English 2018-04-23
Over- and undercoverage in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) – a register-based study English 2018-04-23
Over- and undercoverage in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) – a register-based analysis Swedish 2017-05-31
Analysis on nonresponse bias for the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) Swedish 2017-05-24
Unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and the Swedish Public Employment Service – A comparative study Swedish 2016-06-30
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National accounts Swedish 2016-06-22
Background facts: Patterns of non-response in the Swedish LFS Swedish 2015-09-03
Background facts: Measurement errors study in the Swedish labour force surveys English 2015-08-24
Background facts: Estimating household-related parameters in the Swedish LFS – theory and practice English 2015-08-12
Background facts: Flow statistics – an early indicator of turning points on the labour market? English 2015-04-30
Background facts: Method for estimation when combining samples with different designs in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys Swedish 2014-02-13
Background facts: Unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and the Swedish Public Employment Service – A comparative study Swedish 2013-09-12
Background facts: Linking of central series in Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 1970–1986 Swedish 2013-08-27
Background facts: Part-time employed job seekers English 2013-08-27
Background facts: Part-time employed job seekers Swedish 2013-08-27
Background facts: Youth unemployment – comparability in statistics between a number of European countries English 2013-05-23
Background facts: Revising Surveys – Linking Old and New Data English 2013-05-23
Background facts: Consistent Seasonal Adjustment English 2013-05-23
Bakgrundsfakta: Ungdomsarbetslöshet – jämförbarhet i statistiken mellan ett antal europeiska länder Swedish 2013-04-02
Background facts: Linking a system of time series, Recalculation of Labour Force Surveys 1987–1992 English 2012-12-18
Background facts: Actual Hours Worked in the Swedish LFS – Four articles English 2012-12-10
Background facts: The Sampling and Estimation Procedure in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys 2005– Swedish 2011-11-25
Background facts: The Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 50 years – A presentation of four different perspektives from independent researchers Swedish 2011-09-30
Background facts: Recruitment Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Surveys English 2011-09-26
Background facts: Basic principles for Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and labour market statistics Swedish 2011-06-22
Background facts: Recruitment Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) Swedish 2010-12-09
Background facts: Basic principles for Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and labour market statistics Swedish 2010-05-25
Bakgrundsfakta: Flow Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Survey English 2005-12-05
Background facts: Flow Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Survey Swedish 2005-11-16
Show older publications (150)

Documentation

Quality of the statistics (Quality report)

More information

  • More about the Labour Force Survey
  • Tailor-made statistics – The Labour Force Survey (LFS)
  • The LFS Questionnaire (pdf)
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