In 2020, the whole of Swedish society was marked by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and the labour market was no exception. The pandemic has had a clear effect on labour market statistics as we sum up the year; however, there has also been significant variation throughout the year. In the spring, the labour market situation deteriorated sharply and reached a low point during the summer, but recovered somewhat during the rest of the year. For an overview of how the labour market situation has changed over the year, see the monthly and quarterly publications on www.scb.se/aku.

There were on average 7 537 000 persons aged 15-74 in the population in 2020. There were 5 523 000 people in the labour force, which corresponds to a labour force participation rate of 73.3 percent.

Employment rate fell for the first time since the financial crisis

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to changes in behaviour in society and has had a severe impact on some industries, as well as young people on the labour market. There were on average 5 064 000 employed persons in 2020, which is a decrease of 67 000 people compared with 2019, of whom 51 000 were young persons aged 15-24 years. There were 2 675 000 employed men, while the number of employed women decreased by 49 000 to 2 389 000. Among Swedish born persons, there were 4 022 000 employed persons, a decrease of 62 000, of whom 47 000 were women. There were 1 043 000 employed foreign born persons.

The employment rate, that is, the proportion of employed people in the population, was 67.2 percent, down by 1.1 percentage points compared with the previous year. This was the first year since 2010 that the employment rate decreased. Among men, the employment rate was 69.8 percent, and among women it was 64.5 percent. The employment rate decreased among both Swedish born persons and foreign born persons. Among Swedish born persons the rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points and amounted to 69.5 percent and among foreign born persons the rate decreased by 1.9 percentage points and amounted to 59.7 percent. The employment rate is higher among men than among women for both Swedish born and foreign born persons. However, the difference between the sexes is significantly larger among foreign born persons.

In 2020, some changes in employment were noted in various industries, not least among industries particularly affected by restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of employed persons in the transport industry, which includes public transport and taxi services, decreased by 15 000 and amounted to 227 000 people. In the hotels and restaurants industry, the number of employed persons decreased by 24 000 people and amounted to 138 000. The number of employed persons continued to increase in the information and communication industry throughout the year, and after an increase of 15 000 people, amounted to 268 000 employed persons.

Among persons in employment aged 15-74, 319 000 were underemployed, which is 36 000 more than a year earlier. Among the underemployed persons, 161 000 were men, an increase of 18 000, and 158 000 were women, an increase of 19 000.

Largest decrease was among temporary employees

There were 3 858 000 permanent employees on average in 2020, of whom 1 991 000 were men and 1 867 000 were women. There were 704 000 temporary employees on average. Compared with the previous year, this is a decrease of 62 000 people, of whom 28 000 were men and 34 000 women. Among young persons aged 15-24 years the number of temporary employees decreased by 25 000 people, of whom 21 000 were women.

In 2020, 67.1 percent of employees worked in the private sector and 25.8 percent worked in the municipal sector. The remaining 7.1 percent were employed in the government sector. There were 3 029 000 employees on average in the private sector, a decrease of 48 000 people compared with 2019. In the municipal sector, there were 1 164 000 employees, a decrease of 29 000, and in the government sector, the corresponding figure was 318 000.

Large decline in the number of hours worked

In 2020, the total average number of hours worked per week was 147.6 million hours, down by 4.6 percent compared with 2019. This was the largest decrease between two years since 2001, which is as far back in time as comparable data is available for people aged 15-74 years.

The number of hours worked decreased mainly in the industries affected by travel restrictions and measures related to social distancing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The largest decrease was noted in the hotels and restaurants industry, in which the number of hours worked decreased by 25.0 percent compared with the previous year. In the personal and cultural services industry, which includes culture, entertainment and religious activities, there was a decrease of 11.8 percent and in the transport industry the decrease was 10.3 percent. Decreases were also noted in manufacturing, mining and quarrying, energy and environment, retail trade and education.

Unemployment at the highest level since the financial crisis

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in 2020 affected the Swedish labour market and unemployment increased, particularly among young people and foreign born persons. In 2020, 459 000 persons aged 15-74 were unemployed, which is 86 000 more than in 2019. The number of unemployed women increased by 35 000 to 216 000, and the number of unemployed men increased by 50 000 to 243 000.

In 2020, the average unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared with the previous year. Unemployment has not been at such a high level since 2010. The unemployment rate was 8.3 percent among both women and men, an increase of 1.4 percentage points for women and 1.6 percentage points for men.

The number of unemployed Swedish born persons increased by 32 000 to 218 000 people, and the number of unemployed foreign born persons increased by 54 000 to 241 000 people. The unemployment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 5.1 percent among Swedish born persons, and by 3.7 percentage points to 18.8 percent among foreign born persons. This was the first year since 2010 that a statistically significant increase was noted in the annual unemployment rate among foreign born persons, and the highest level recorded since 2005, which is the furthest back in time that data is available.

There were 144 000 unemployed young persons aged 15-24, 17 000 more than in 2019. Among young unemployed persons, 80 000 were full-time students. Youth unemployment increased by 4.0 percentage points and amounted to 24.0 percent on average.

The average number of long-term unemployed persons, that is, people who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, was 109 000 in 2020, which is an increase of 17 000 people.

Highest level of full-time students and latent jobseekers

In 2020, 2 014 000 persons aged 15-74 were not in the labour force. Among those not in the labour force, 917 000 were men and 1 096 000 were women, which is an increase of 26 000 people. There were 1 550 000 Swedish born persons and 464 000 foreign born persons who were not in the labour force.

Among persons not in the labour force, 921 000 were retired, a decrease of 18 000 people. The number of people not in the labour force due to illness decreased by 21 000 people and amounted to 235 000. The number of persons not in the labour force due to illness has dropped for the sixth consecutive year. There were 572 000 full-time students on average during the year, an increase of 29 000 people. This was the highest level and the largest increase in the number of full-time students since 2005, which is as far back as comparable data is available. People who can and would like to work, but who are not looking for work, are called latent jobseekers. There were 165 000 latent jobseekers in 2020. This was the highest level since 2001, for which comparable data for persons aged 15-74 years is available, and an increase of 34 000 people compared with 2019. Among men the number of latent job seekers increased by 12 000 to 80 000 and among women the number increased by 22 000 and amounted to 85 000. Among young persons aged 15-24 the number of latent jobseekers increased by 25 000 and amounted to 93 000.

More common to externally recruit young than older people

Among persons aged 15-74, 339 000 on average were externally recruited per quarter in 2020. This can be compared with 2019, when 386 000 were externally recruited. The number of externally recruited men and women per quarter was 164 000 and 176 000 respectively. It was more common to externally recruit men within the private sector, while in the public sector it was more common to recruit women. Among externally recruited persons, about 38 percent, which corresponds to 131 000 people, were young people aged 15-24. It was more common to externally recruit young people than older people. In 2020, 85 000 persons were internally recruited on average per quarter, and the proportion was evenly distributed between men and women.

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