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Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 4th quarter 2019

Labour force increased

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-02-04 9.30

The employment rate among persons aged 15–74 was 68.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, non-seasonally adjusted, and the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent. The number of hours worked averaged 162, 3 million hours per week. In seasonally adjusted and smoothed figures, both the number and the share of employed persons increased, while unemployment data showed minor changes.

The labour force

The number of persons in the labour force aged 15-74 increased by 65 000 and amounted to 5 474 000 in the fourth quarter of 2019, not seasonally adjusted. The number of employed men increased by 34 000 to 2 867 000 and the number of employed women increased by 32 000 to 2 607 000. The relative labour force participation rate was 72.7 percent. Among women, the labour force participation rate was 70.5 percent and among men it was 74.8 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number and share of persons in the labour force compared with adjacent quarters. There were 5 529 000 persons in the labour force in the fourth quarter of 2019, which corresponds to 73.5 percent of the population.

Employment

In the fourth quarter of 2019, there were 5 130 000 employed persons aged 15 to 74, non-seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an employment rate of 68.2 percent. There were 2 443 000 employed women and 2 687 000 employed men. The employment rate was 66.1 percent for women and for men it was 70.2 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in both the number and share of employed persons compared with adjacent quarters. There were 5 150 000 employed persons in the fourth quarter of 2019, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 68.4 percent.

Employees

In the fourth quarter of 2019, there were 4 625 000 employees, non-seasonally adjusted. Among employees, 2 304 000 were women and 2 321 000 were men. There were 3 878 000 permanent employees, an increase of 57 000 persons compared to the corresponding period a year ago. Among the permanent employees, 1 896 000 were women and 1 982 000 were men. There were 747 000 temporarily employed persons, of whom 408 000 were women and 339 000 were men.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of permanent employees and a minor change in the number of temporarily employed employees.

Hours worked

The total number of hours worked averaged 162.3 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows minor change in the number of hours worked. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of hours worked averaged 154.0 million hours per week.

The majority of employed persons have an agreed working time of 35 hours or more per week, that is, full-time work. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of persons who worked full-time amounted to 3 970 000, of whom 2 269 000 were men and 1 701 000 were women. In total, 365 000 persons worked short part-time (1–19 hours), which is 31 000 persons more than in the fourth quarter of 2018. In total, 782 000 persons worked long part-time (20–34 hours).

The average actual hours worked among employed persons aged 15-74 amounted to 31.6 hours per week in the fourth quarter of 2019. This is a decrease of 0.4 hours compared with the fourth quarter of 2018. The average actual hours worked by women amounted to 29.0, a decrease of 0.5 hours, and average actual hours worked by men amounted to 34.1 hours.

Underemployment

Among employed persons aged 15–74, there were 279 000 underemployed persons in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 24 000 compared with the corresponding period a year ago. Among underemployed persons, the number of men increased by 19 000 to 143 000. There were 135 000 underemployed women. Underemployed persons accounted for 5.4 percent of employed persons.

Unemployment

In the fourth quarter of 2019, there were 344 000 unemployed persons aged 15-74 years, non-seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent. There were 165 000 unemployed women and 180 000 unemployed men. The unemployment rate was 6.3 percent among both women and men.

Among persons aged 15–74, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows minor changes in both the number and share of unemployed persons, compared to adjacent quarters. In the fourth quarter of 2019, there were 379 000 unemployed persons, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of long-term unemployed persons (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) aged 15–74 increased by 24 000 and amounted to 102 000, non-seasonally adjusted. There were 53 000 long-term unemployed men. The number of long-term unemployed women increased by 17 000 to 49 000.

There were 100 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24, non-seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 17.2 percent. Among the unemployed young people, 64 000 were full-time students, up by 15 000.

Among young people aged 15–24, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows minor changes in both the number and share of unemployed persons compared with adjacent quarters. There were 125 000 unemployed persons, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 19.8 percent.

Not in the labour force

The group ‘Not in the labour force’ includes persons not classified as employed or unemployed. In the fourth quarter of 2019, this group included 2 052 000 persons, of whom 963 000 were men and 1 089 000 were women.

Persons who were outside the labour force included 919 000 retired persons. There were 659 000 full-time students. The number of persons with long-term illness amounted to 255 000 persons.

Latent job seekers

There were 144 000 latent job seekers aged 15–74 in the fourth quarter of 2019, which is an increase of 25 000. Among young persons aged 15–24, there were 78 000 latent job seekers.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed persons, underemployed persons and latent job seekers together comprise the unused labour supply. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the unused labour supply averaged 16.6 million hours per week. The unused labour force supply corresponds to 415 000 full-time jobs with a 40-hour working week.

Labour market for persons aged 20-64 years

The population covered by the LFS is comprised of persons aged 15-74 years. However, labour market participation among younger and older in this age group is considerably lower for natural reasons, for example because this group contains large shares of students and retired persons. To better approach what can be seen as the core of the actively working population, the situation of the age group 20-64 years is described in the following section.

The relative participation rate among persons aged 20-64 years amounted to 86.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, non-seasonally adjusted. Among women, the relative participation rate was 84.3 percent and among men it was 89.3 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the labour force participation rate, which amounted to 87.4 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the share of employed persons aged 20–64 was 81.8 percent, non-seasonally adjusted. Among women, the corresponding figure was 79.5 percent and among men it was 84.1 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows minor changes in the employment rate, which amounted to 82.0 percent.

According to non-seasonally adjusted data, the unemployment rate in the age group 20–64 amounted to 5.8 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. Among women, the unemployment rate was 5.7 percent and among men it was 5.9 percent. In relation to adjacent quarters, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the share of unemployed persons, which amounted to 6.1 percent.

Swedish born and foreign born persons aged 20-64 years

The relative labour force participation rate among Swedish born persons aged 20-64 years was 88.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, non-seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women, the relative participation rate was 87.4 percent and among Swedish born men it was 90.0 percent. Among foreign born persons aged 20-64 years, the relative labour force participation rate amounted to 81.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. The corresponding figure was 75.0 percent among foreign born women and 87.3 percent among foreign born men. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the participation rate among both Swedish born persons and foreign born persons. The participation rate amounted to 89.3 percent among Swedish born persons and 81.6 percent among foreign born persons.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the share of employed persons among Swedish born persons aged 20–64 was 85.9 percent, non-seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women, the employment rate was 85.0 percent and among Swedish born men it was 86.8 percent. Among foreign born persons, the employment rate was 69.5 percent. Among foreign born men the employment rate was 75.7 percent and among foreign born women it was 63.0 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the employment rate compared with adjacent quarters among Swedish born persons. Among foreign born persons, data shows minor changes in the share of employed persons. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the employment rate was 86.2 percent among Swedish born persons and 69.5 percent among foreign born persons.

The relative unemployment rate among Swedish born persons aged 20-64 years was 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Among Swedish born women, the unemployment rate was 2.8 percent and among Swedish born men it was 3.5 percent. Unemployment among foreign born persons amounted to 14.5 percent. Among foreign born women, this figure was 16.0 percent, up by 2.9 percentage points, and among foreign born men it was 13.3 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows minor changes in the unemployment rate among Swedish born persons, while among foreign born persons the unemployment rate increased. The unemployment rate amounted to 3.5 percent among Swedish born persons and 14.8 percent among foreign born persons.

Employment rate, persons aged 15-74
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 4th quarter 2019

Employment rate by sex, smoothed and seasonally adjusted data, persons aged 15-74
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 4th quarter 2019

Unemployment rate, persons aged 15-74
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 4th quarter 2019

Unemployment rate by sex, smoothed and seasonally adjusted data, persons aged 15-74
Labour Force Surveys (LFS), 4th quarter 2019

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2020-05-07 at 09:30.

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