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Labour Force Surveys (LFS)

Official statistics of Sweden

Upcoming publishing: 2022-10-21

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. It is the only source of continuous data on total unemployment and represents the official unemployment rate.

Labour Force Surveys (LFS), previous definitions

Correction 2022-05-25 - Length of unemployment

As of April 2021, estimates regarding the length of the unemployment period are replaced with two periods [..] in the LFS tables, both in Excel-documents and in the Statistical Database. The reason is a lack of quality in the underlying response data since some unemployed people do not have information about the length of the unemployment period. The error mainly affects people aged 15–24 who are awaiting a summer job. The error is considered to be minor. Work is in progress to correct the error.

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Key figures for Sweden

Labour force rate

75.2 %

Reference period: August 2022

0.7 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Unemployment rate

6.6 %

Reference period: August 2022

-1.9 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Employment rate

70.2 %

Reference period: August 2022

2.0 %-unit

compared with the same period previous year

Labour force rate (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

74.7 %

Reference period: August 2022

Unemployment rate  (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

7.2 %

Reference period: August 2022

Employment rate  (smoothed and seasonally adjusted)

69.3 %

Reference period: August 2022

Statistical news

Labour Force Surveys (LFS), August 2022

2022-09-21

In August 2022, there were 5,302,000 employed people, not seasonally adjusted. This is an increase of 179,000 people compared to August 2021. The number of employed young people, aged 15–24, increased by 82,000 to 578,000. The average number of hours worked per week amounted to 138.4 million, an increase of 5.1 percent in calendar adjusted figures. The number of unemployed people amounted to 373,000, a decrease of 106,000. The unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points. Smoothed and seasonally adjusted data indicates an increase in employment and a decrease in the unemployment rate which amounted to 7.2 percent.

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Tables and graphs

Tables in the Statistical Database

Publications

Title Language Type Date
Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 2022 – Theme: Working from home during the Corona pandemic English SM 2022-09-13
Labour force surveys (LFS) 2021 English SM 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 English Report 2018-11-13
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National Accounts. Background Facts – Labour and Education Statistics 2016:1 English Rapport 2018-07-18
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National Accounts. Background Facts – Labour and Education Statistics 2016:1 English Report 2018-07-11
Analysis on nonresponse bias for the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) English Report 2018-04-23
Over- and undercoverage in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) – a register-based study English Report 2018-04-23
Over- and undercoverage in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) – a register-based analysis English Report 2017-05-31
Analysis on nonresponse bias for the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) English Report 2017-05-24
Unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and the Swedish Public Employment Service – A comparative study English SM 2016-06-30
Employed and hours worked in Labour Force Surveys and National accounts English Rapport 2016-06-22
Background facts: Patterns of non-response in the Swedish LFS English Rapport 2015-09-03
Background facts: Measurement errors study in the Swedish labour force surveys English Rapport 2015-08-24
Background facts: Estimating household-related parameters in the Swedish LFS – theory and practice English Rapport 2015-08-12
Background facts: Flow statistics – an early indicator of turning points on the labour market? English Rapport 2015-04-30
Background facts: Method for estimation when combining samples with different designs in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys English Rapport 2014-02-13
Background facts: Unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and the Swedish Public Employment Service – A comparative study English Rapport 2013-09-12
Background facts: Part-time employed job seekers English Rapport 2013-08-27
Background facts: Linking of central series in Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 1970–1986 English Rapport 2013-08-27
Background facts: Part-time employed job seekers English Rapport 2013-08-27
Background facts: Revising Surveys – Linking Old and New Data English Rapport 2013-05-23
Background facts: Youth unemployment – comparability in statistics between a number of European countries English Rapport 2013-05-23
Background facts: Consistent Seasonal Adjustment English Rapport 2013-05-23
Bakgrundsfakta: Ungdomsarbetslöshet – jämförbarhet i statistiken mellan ett antal europeiska länder English Rapport 2013-04-02
Background facts: Linking a system of time series, Recalculation of Labour Force Surveys 1987–1992 English Rapport 2012-12-18
Background facts: Actual Hours Worked in the Swedish LFS – Four articles English Rapport 2012-12-10
Background facts: The Sampling and Estimation Procedure in the Swedish Labour Force Surveys 2005– English Rapport 2011-11-25
Background facts: The Labour Force Surveys (LFS) 50 years – A presentation of four different perspektives from independent researchers English Rapport 2011-09-30
Background facts: Recruitment Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Surveys English Rapport 2011-09-26
Background facts: Basic principles for Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and labour market statistics English Rapport 2011-06-22
Background facts: Recruitment Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Surveys (LFS) English Rapport 2010-12-09
Background facts: Basic principles for Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and labour market statistics English Rapport 2010-05-25
Bakgrundsfakta: Flow Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Survey English Rapport 2005-12-05
Background facts: Flow Statistics from the Swedish Labour Force Survey English Rapport 2005-11-16
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Documentation

Quality of the statistics (Quality report)

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