Labour Force Surveys (LFS)
Upcoming publishing: 2026-02-03
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
2026-01-23: New tables for older people in the statistical database
Seven new tables on the labour market situation of older people, 65-89 years old, have been published in the statistical database. The tables contain data for employed people and employees, starting from 2021.
2025-06-11: Information about level of education
Quality deficiencies have been discovered in the LFS regarding the variable level of education. Work is underway to map its extent and impact on the statistics. However, it can already be stated that the shortcomings consist of the LFS underestimating people with primary and lower secondary education and upper secondary education and overestimating people with post-secondary education. Furthermore, it can be stated that the quality deficiencies are greater for number estimates than for share and change estimates.
2025-10-17: New NEET tables from quarter 3 2025
Previously published tables of Young people not in employment and not in any education and training (NEET) in Excel and in the statistical database have been removed and replaced by new tables with a new structure in the statistical database. The content of the new tables is the same, with the addition that Annual change and Annual change margin of error are also reported.
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Key figures for Sweden
Labour force rate
75.0 %
Reference period: December 2025
0.9 %-unit
compared with the same period previous year
Unemployment rate
8.3 %
Reference period: December 2025
0.3 %-unit
compared with the same period previous year
Employment rate
68.7 %
Reference period: December 2025
0.6 %-unit
compared with the same period previous year
Labour force rate (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)
76.0 %
Reference period: December 2025
Unemployment rate (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)
9.0 %
Reference period: December 2025
Employment rate (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)
69.1 %
Reference period: December 2025
Statistical news
2026-01-23
In December 2025, the number of people in the labour force increased with 85 000 and amounted to 5 729 000, not seasonally adjusted. There were 5 252 000 employed people, and the number of hours worked per week averaged 151.3 million. The number of unemployed people was 477 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in both the employment rate and the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate amounted to 9.0 percent.
All statistical news for this statisticTables in the Statistical Database
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Simple URL: https://www.scb.se/am0401-en