- In December we also see some positive signs in the labour market. Labour force participation increases and looking at seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, employment and hours worked increase. However, unemployment remains at a higher level, says Ludvig Renberg, statistician at Statistics Sweden’s Labour Force Surveys.

Labour force

In December 2025, there were 5 729 000 people aged 15–74 in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted, an increase of 85 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. There were 2 752 000 women in the labour force, an increase of 67 000. The number of men amounted to 2 977 000. The labour force participation rate was 75.0 percent, an increase of 0.9 percentage points. Among women, the labour force participation rate was 73.1 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points, and among men it was 76.8 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in both the number and the share of people in the labour force, compared to recent months. There were 5 803 000 people in the labour force, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 76.0 percent.

Employment

The number of employed people aged 15-74 amounted to 5 252 000 in December 2025, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 540 000 employed women, an increase of 85 000. The number of employed men was 2 712 000. The employment rate stood at 68.7 percent. The employment rate among women was 67.5 percent, an increase of 2.0 percentage points, and among men it was 70.0 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, 5 282 000 people aged 15–74 were employed and the employment rate was 69.1 percent, representing an increase in both the number and the share of employed people, compared to recent months.

Employees

In December 2025, there were 4 739 000 employees, according to non-seasonally adjusted data. 2 371 000 employees were women, an increase of 64 000, and 2 368 000 employees were men. The number of permanent employees amounted to 4 107 000. Of the permanently employed 2 015 000 were women and 2 092 000 were men. The number of temporary employees amounted to 632 000, of which 356 000 were women and 276 000 were men.

The number of employees increased compared to recent months and amounted to 4 770 000 according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. Of these, 4 127 000 were permanent employees and 643 000 were temporary employees.

Hours worked

Total hours worked in December 2025 averaged 151.3 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in the number of hours worked compared to recent months. The number of hours worked averaged 156.4 million per week.

Unemployment

In December 2025, 477 000 people aged 15–74 were unemployed, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent. There were 212 000 unemployed women and 265 000 unemployed men. The unemployment rate stood at 7.7 percent for women and 8.9 percent for men. The number of people in long-term unemployment (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) amounted to 181 000. There were 72 000 women in long-term unemployment and 109 000 men, an increase of 38 000. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 141 000. The youth unemployment rate stood at 21.5 percent. Among unemployed young people, 97 000 were full-time students.

Compared to recent months, the number of unemployed people aged 15-74 increased to 521 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also increased, amounting to 9.0 percent. The number of unemployed young people was 175 000, which is an increase compared to recent months, and corresponds to an unemployment rate of 24.7 percent.

Unused labour supply

Collectively, unemployed people, underemployed people and latent jobseekers constitute the unused labour supply. In December 2025, the unused labour supply averaged 24.4 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 610 000 full-time jobs with 40-hour working weeks.