- For the second month in a row, employment among young people is increasing. At the same time, we see that the employed young people would like to work more hours, says Felicia Blom, statistician at the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In February 2026, there were 5 757 000 people aged 15–74 in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to a labour force participation rate of 75.3 percent. There were 2 735 000 women in the labour force and 3 022 000 were men. The labour force participation rate for women was 72.6 percent and for men 78.0 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 5 804 000 people in the labour force, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 76.0 percent.

Employment

In February 2026, the number of employed people was 5 250 000, not seasonally adjusted. This is an increase of 92 000 people compared to the same month last year. The employment rate stood at 68.7 percent, an increase of 1.0 percentage points. There were 2 501 000 employed women and 2 749 000 employed men. The employment rate was 66.4 percent among women and 70.9 percent among men. Among young people aged 15–24, the number of employed people increased by 58 000 to 521 000. This corresponds to an employment rate of 42.4 percent, an increase of 4.2 percentage points.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, 5 310 000 people aged 15–74 were employed and the employment rate was 69.5 percent, representing an increase in both the number and the share of employed people, compared to recent months. Both the number and the share of employed young people aged 15–24 increased compared to the previous months. The number of employed young people was 550 000 and the proportion was 44.8 percent.

Employees

In February 2026, there were 4 754 000 employees, according to non-seasonally adjusted data, an increase of 89 000 people compared to the corresponding month in the previous year. Of these, 2 363 000 were women and 2 390 000 were men. The number of permanent employees amounted to 4 173 000. Of these, 2 031 000 were women and 2 142 000 were men. The number of temporary employees amounted to 581 000. Among women, 332 000 were employed on a temporary basis and among men 249 000.

The number of employees increased compared to recent months and amounted to 4 803 000 according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. Of these, 4 150 000 were permanent employees and 654 000 were temporary employees. Compared to recent months, both the number of permanent employees and temporary employees increased.

Hours worked

Total hours worked in February 2026 averaged 170.6 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of hours worked averaged 155.7 million per week.

Unemployment

In February 2026, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 was 507 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent. The number of unemployed women was 233 000 and that of men 274 000. The unemployment rate stood at 8.5 percent for women and 9.1 percent for men. The number of people in long-term unemployment (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) amounted to 180 000, of whom 90 000 were women and 90 000 men. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 169 000. The youth unemployment rate stood at 24.5 percent. Among unemployed young people, 128 000 were full-time students.

Compared to recent months, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 decreased to 494 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also decreased, amounting to 8.5 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 166 000 and the unemployment rate stood at 23.2 percent. Compared to recent months, this represents a decrease in both the number and the share of unemployed young people.

Unused labour supply

Collectively, unemployed people, underemployed people and latent jobseekers constitute the unused labour supply. In February 2026, 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. The number of underemployed people, employed people who want to work more hours, increased by 59 000 and amounted to 393 000 people compared with the same month last year. Among young people aged 15–24, the number of underemployed people was 112 000, an increase of 44 000.