- For the second consecutive quarter, we are seeing an increase in the number of temporary employees. At the same time, the unemployment rate remains at an elevated level, says Mikael Lundsten, a statistician with the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden (SCB).

The labour force

The number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 years amounted to 5 865 000 in the second quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted. The number of women in the labour force amounted to 2 803 000 and the number of men was 3 062 000. The relative labour force participation rate was 76.8. Among women, the labour force participation rate was 74.4 percent and among men it was 79.0 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the number of people in the labour force amounted to 5 796 000 in the second quarter of 2026, which corresponds to a labour force participation rate of 75.8 percent.

Employment

In the second quarter of 2026, the number of employed people aged 15–74 years was 5 315 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an employment rate of 69.6 percent. The number of employed women amounted to 2 548 000, and the number of men was 2 766 000. The employment rate among women was 67.7 percent and among men it was 71.4 percent. The number of employed young people aged 15–24 years amounted to 552 000, which corresponds to an employment rate of 44.8 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the number of employed people, aged 15–74 years, amounted to 5 293 000 in the second quarter of 2026. This corresponds to an employment rate of 69.2 percent.

Employees

The number of employees was 4 826 000 in the second quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted. The number of employees among women was 2 400 000 and among men it was 2 426 000. The number of permanent employees was 4 118 000, of which 2 006 000 were women and 2 113 000 were men. The number of temporary employees aged 15–74 was 707 000, which is an increase of 46 000 people. Among them 394 000 were women and 313 000 were men.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employees in the second quarter of 2026 was 4 797 000, an increase compared to adjacent quarters. Among the employees, 4 117 000 people had a permanent job and 681 000 a temporary job. The number of temporary employees increased compared to adjacent quarters.

Hours worked

The average number of hours worked per week in the second quarter of 2026 amounted to 161.9 million, not seasonally adjusted. Among women the average number of hours worked amounted to 71.9 million and among men it amounted to 90.0 million. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the average number of hours worked per week amounted to 155.5 million.

Most employed people have an agreed working time of 35 hours or more per week, that is, full-time work. In the second quarter of 2026, 4 151 000 people worked full time. Among them 1 856 000 were women and 2 295 000 were men. In total, 314 000 people worked short part-time (1–19 hours), and the number of people who worked long part time (20–34 hours) amounted to 599 000 people.

The average actual hours worked among employed people aged 15–74 years amounted to 30.5 hours per week in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 0.4 hours. The average actual hours worked among women increased by 0.5 hours and amounted to 28.3 hours per week. Among men it increased by 0.5 hours to 32.6 hours per week.

Underemployment

Among employed people aged 15–74, 396 000 were underemployed, of which 180 000 were women and 216 000 were men. Underemployed people accounted for 7.4 percent of employed people.

Unemployment

In the second quarter of 2026, the number of unemployed among people aged 15–74 years amounted to 550 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. The number of unemployed women amounted to 255 000, and the number of men amounted to 296 000. The unemployment rate for women was 9.1 percent, and for men it was 9.7 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the number of unemployed among people aged 15–74 amounted to 503 000 in the second quarter of 2026, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent.

In the second quarter of 2026, there were 171 000 long-term unemployed people (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. Among the long-term unemployed people 71 000 were women and 100 000 were men.

The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 years was 226 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 29.1 percent. Among the unemployed young people, 154 000 were full-time students. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 years amounted to 177 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 24.8 percent. Both the number and the share of unemployment among young people increased compared to adjacent quarters.

Not in the labour force

The group 'not in the labour force' includes people who are not classified as employed nor as unemployed. In the second quarter of 2026, there were 1 776 000 people not in the labour force aged 15–74 years, of which 963 000 were women and 813 000 were men.

Among people not in the labour force, 788 000 were retired, 491 000 were full-time students and 288 000 people reported that they were on long-term sick leave. The number of retired people decreased by 29 000.

Latent job seekers

People who can and would like to work, but who are not looking for work, are called latent job seekers. There were 252 000 latent job seekers aged 15–74 years in the second quarter of 2026. Among the latent job seekers 123 000 were women and 129 000 were men. Among young people aged 15–24 years, the number of latent job seekers was 111 000.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together comprise the unused labour supply. In the second quarter of 2026, the unused labour supply averaged 26.8 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 670 000 full-time employments with 40-hour work weeks.

Labour market for people aged 20–66 years

The population presented by the LFS is comprised of people aged 15–74 years. However, labour market participation among younger and older in this age group is considerably lower for natural reasons, as this group contains large shares of students and retired people. To better approach what can be seen as the core of the actively working population, the situation of the age group 20–66 years is described in the following section.

The relative labour force participation rate among people aged 20–66 years amounted to 87.1 percent in the second quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Among women, the participation rate was 84.7 percent and among men it was 89.3 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a labour force participation rate of 86.7 percent.

In the second quarter of 2026, the share of employed people aged 20–66 years was 80.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted. Among women, the share of employed people was 78.9 percent and among men it was 82.6 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed, the employment rate was 80.5 percent.

According to non-seasonally adjusted data, the unemployment rate in the age group 20–66 years amounted to 7.3 percent. The unemployment rate was 7.0 percent among women and 7.6 percent among men. The seasonally adjusted and smoothed unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, which is a decrease compared to adjacent quarters.

Swedish born and foreign born people aged 20–66 years

The relative labour force participation rate among Swedish born people aged 20–66 years amounted to 87.7 percent in the second quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women the labour force participation rate was 86.3 percent, and among Swedish born men it was 89.1 percent. Among foreign born people aged 20–66 years, the relative labour force participation rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points and amounted to 85.4 percent. The corresponding figure among foreign born women was 80.7 percent and among foreign born men it decreased by 1.6 percentage points and amounted to 90.0 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed, the labour force participation rate among the Swedish born increased to 87.2 percent compared to adjacent quarters, while it decreased among the foreign born, to 85.5 percent.

In the second quarter of 2026, the share of employed Swedish born people aged 20–66 years amounted to 83.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women, the employment rate was 82.5 percent, and among Swedish born men it was 84.2 percent. The employment rate was 73.8 percent among foreign born people. Among foreign born women the corresponding rate was 69.2 percent and among foreign born men it was 78.3 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the employment rate was 83.0 among Swedish born people and 73.8 among foreign born people. The employment rate among Swedish born increased compared to adjacent quarters.

The relative unemployment rate among Swedish born people aged 20–66 years amounted to 5.0 percent in the second quarter of 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent and for Swedish born men it was 5,6 percent. The unemployment rate among foreign born was 13.6 percent. Among foreign born women it was 14.2 percent and among foreign born men it was 13.0 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent among Swedish born people. Among foreign born the corresponding rate was 13.7 percent, which is a decrease compared to adjacent quarters.