The figures in this statistical news release are based on collected data that contains quality deficiencies. Revised LFS figures have been published and are available here:

Labour Force Surveys

Statistics Sweden’s Statistical Report presents the labour market situation of the population. In the second quarter of 2018, there were 5 120 000 employed persons aged 15-74, up 86 000 from the corresponding quarter in 2017. The number of employed men increased by 40 000 to 2 675 000 and the number of employed women increased by 46 000 to 2 445 000. Among Swedish born persons, the number of employed persons increased by 49 000 to 4 117 000. Among foreign born persons, the corresponding increase was 37 000, which means there were 1 003 000 foreign born employed persons in the second quarter of 2018.

The employment rate, that is, the proportion of employed persons in the population, continued to increase in the second quarter and amounted to 68.7 percent. This corresponds to an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with the same period in 2017. The employment rate among men was 70.6 percent and among women it increased by 0.8 percentage points to 66.7 percent. Among Swedish born persons, the employment rate was 70.7 percent, up by 1.0 percentage points compared with the same quarter in the previous year. Among foreign born persons, the corresponding figure was 61.7 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows continued positive developments in both the number and percentage of employed persons compared with adjacent quarters.

The number of employed persons in the industry sectors Information and communication and Public administration etc. increased compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year, while the number of employed persons decreased slightly in Agriculture, forestry and fishery.

Among employed persons, there are persons who want to and are able to work more than they normally do, that is, those who are underemployed. Among employed persons aged 15-74, 221 000 were underemployed, which was a decreased of 19 000 compared with the same quarter last year. There were 107 000 underemployed men and 114 000 underemployed women. Underemployed persons accounted for 4.3 percent of employed persons.

There were 4 633 000 employees, up by 97 000 compared with the second quarter 2017. Men accounted for 2 320 000 of the employees, up by 46 000, and women accounted for 2 312 000, up by 51 000. The number of permanent employees has increased every quarter since the fourth quarter 2014. In the second quarter 2018, this figure rose by 101 000 compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year, and amounted to 3 865 000. There were 768 000 temporary employees.

The number of employees in the private sector continued to increase and amounted to 3 086 000. This corresponds to an increase of 64 000 compared with the same quarter in the previous year. This positive development in the private sector has been going on since the fourth quarter 2015. The number of employees in the municipal sector also increased, by 25 000 to 1 201 000. There were 300 000 employees in the central government sector.

In the second quarter of 2018, the number of hours worked was, on average, 161.0 hours per week, non-seasonally adjusted. Men worked, on average, 90.5 million hours and women worked 70.5 million hours per week.

There were 376 000 unemployed persons aged 15-74 in the second quarter of 2018. Among unemployed persons there were 203 000 men and 173 000 women. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points compared with the corresponding quarter in 2017 and amounted to 6.8 percent of the labour force. Among Swedish born persons, unemployment decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 4.2 percent and among foreign born persons, the corresponding figure was 16.2 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a decrease of both the number and the percentage of unemployed persons among both women and men. The unemployment rate was 6.2 percent.

Among young people in the labour force, 20.6 percent were unemployed, which corresponds to 137 000 persons, 81 000 of whom are full-time students. Among men aged 15-24, 22.7 percent were unemployed and among women in the same age group, 18.3 percent were unemployed. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows continued decrease of both the number and the percentage of unemployed persons among young people.

Between the first and second quarter of 2018, flow statistics indicate a net outflow of many persons aged 15-17 years from the group “Not in the labour force” to either “employment” or “unemployment”. This is especially clear in the group of young people. The flows in the age group 25-54 also moved in the same direction, albeit not to the same degree.

The labour market at a glance, second quarter 2018

Non-seasonally adjusted values (seasonally adjusted and smoothed values are given in brackets).

Population aged 15–74:

• The employment rate was 68.7 percent (68.4 percent), up by 0.6 percentage points.
• The number of employed persons was 5 120 000 (5100 000), up by 86 000 persons compared with the second quarter 2017.
• The unemployment rate was 6.8 percent (6.2 percent), down by 0.5 percentage points.
• The number of unemployed persons was 376 000 (337 000).
• The economic activity rate was 73.7 percent (72.8 percent).
• The number of persons in the labour force was 5 496 000 (5437 000), up by 68 000 persons compared with the second quarter 2017.

Population aged 20-64:

• The employment rate was 82.8 percent (82.5 percent), up by 0.7 percentage points.
• The unemployment rate was 5.9 percent (5.6 percent), down by 0,3 percentage points

A more detailed report on the labour market situation for the entire population aged 15-74 is available in the Statistical Report on the second quarter in 2018.