Since 1 January, the Swedish LFS is in compliance with the new EU framework regulation on social statistics (Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council). This framework regulation has involved changes in the definition of employment, the sampling procedure, and the structure of the questionnaire. These changes have caused breaks in the time series and therefore, this item of statistical news does not include any comparisons with previous years. Comparisons within 2021 are possible for seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. However, comparisons with previous years are not advised. Throughout 2021, parallel measurements will be used to make it possible to link data backwards in time and make the series comparable with previous years.

The number of employed persons has been affected, partly due to the change in the definition; people who are completely absent from work for three months or more for certain reasons are no longer classified as being employed. Furthermore, new and updated information is used in the weighting procedures, which improves the precision in the estimates, although it also affects the levels of the number of employed persons. The change in the definition and the new weighting procedure led to a total estimated number of employed persons in the third quarter that is approximately 55 000 fewer than according to the previous method.

Besides the number of employed persons, other estimates may also have been affected by a change in definition, target population, and survey design. The new auxillary information may also have affected the other estimates.

More information on the alignment to the framework regulation is available on the LFS product page at “Information on the introduction of the new 2021 framework regulation in the LFS” (scb.se).

The labour force

There were 5 616 000 people aged 15–74 years in the labour force in the third quarter of 2021, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 661 000 women and 2 955 000 men in the labour force. The relative labour force participation rate was 74.8 percent. For women it was 72.0 percent, and for men it was 77.4 percent. There were 655 000 young people aged 15–24 years in the labour force and the relative labour force participation rate among young people was 57.1 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that there were 5 577 000 people in the labour force in the third quarter, which corresponds to 74.2 percent of the population. Compared with the second quarter, the number of people in the labour force, as well as the labour force participation rate, increased.

Employment

In the third quarter of 2021, there were 5 154 000 people aged 15–74 years in employment, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 431 000 women and 2 723 000 men in employment. The employment rate was 68.6 percent. It was 65.8 percent for women and 71.3 percent for men. There were 518 000 young people aged 15–24 years in employment and the employment rate was 45.2 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that there were
5 083 000 employed persons and the employment rate was 67.6 percent. Compared with the second quarter, the number of employed people, as well as the employment rate, increased.

Employees

In the third quarter of 2021, there were 4 642 000 employees, not seasonally adjusted. Among employees, 2 292 000 were women, and 2 350 000 were men. There were 3 872 000 permanent employees, of whom 1 874 000 were women and 1 998 000 were men. The number of temporary employees was 770 000. Among temporary employees, 418 000 were women and 352 000 were men.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that there were 4 579 000 employees, an increase compared with the second quarter. The number of permanent employees increased to 3 870 000 and the number of temporary employees were 709 000.

Hours worked

The total number of hours worked averaged 135.0 million per week, according to non-seasonally adjusted data for the third quarter of 2021.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the total number of hours worked averaged 152.8 million hours per week, an increase compared with the second quarter of 2021.

The majority of employed persons have an agreed working time of 35 hours or more per week, that is, full-time work. In the third quarter of 2021, 4 090 000 people worked full time, of whom 1 776 000 were women and 2 314 000 were men. In total, 243 000 people worked short part-time (1–19 hours) and 649 000 people worked long part-time (20–34 hours).

The average actual weekly hours worked among employed persons aged 15-74 years was 26.2 hours in the third quarter of 2021. The average weekly hours worked was 24.1 hours among women and 28.0 hours among men.

At work and absence

There were 3 751 000 people aged 15–74 years employed and working in the third quarter of 2021, not seasonally adjusted.

The LFS estimates the number of people who were absent during the whole week or parts of the week from their principal occupation, by main reason for absence. There were 1 996 000 people absent during the whole week or parts of the week in the third quarter of 2021, not seasonally adjusted. There were 1 416 000 people absent for the whole week, not seasonally adjusted. Among these people, 1 081 000 were absent due to holidays and 106 000 were absent due to illness. There were 9 000 people absent for the whole week due to lack of work.

It is common for people who are absent due to lack of work or lay-offs to be absent for only part of the week. In the third quarter of 2021, the number of people who stated lack of work as their main reason for absence was 19 000. The number of people who stated that they were absent due to lay-offs was too small to present an estimate.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that 4 303 000 people were at work, an increase compared with the second quarter of 2021.

Underemployment

Among employed persons aged 15–74 years, 320 000 were underemployed in the third quarter of 2021. Among underemployed persons, 158 000 were women and 162 000 were men. Underemployed persons accounted for 6.2 percent of employed persons.

Unemployment

In the third quarter of 2021, there were 462 000 unemployed persons aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. There were 230 000 unemployed women and 232 000 unemployed men. The unemployment rate was 8.6 percent for women and 7.8 percent for men.

Among people aged 15–74 years, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that there were 494 000 unemployed persons, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021. Compared with the second quarter, the number of unemployed people as well as the unemployment rate decreased.

There were 173 000 long-term unemployed persons (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) aged 15–74 years in the third quarter of 2021. Among long-term unemployed persons, 79 000 were women and 94 000 were men.

There were 137 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24 years, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to a youth unemployment rate of 20.9 percent. Among unemployed youth, 49 000 were full-time students.

Among young people aged 15–24 years, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of unemployed persons compared with the second quarter. The number of unemployed persons increased to 157 000, and the unemployment rate was 25.1 percent.

Not in the labour force

The group ‘not in the labour force’ includes people who are classified as neither employed nor unemployed. In the third quarter of 2021, there were 1 895 000 people aged 15–74 years not in the labour force, of whom 1 033 000 were women and 862 000 were men. Among people not in the labour force, 889 000 were pensioners, while 382 000 were full-time students. There were 269 000 people who reported that they were on long-term sick leave.

Latent job seekers

There were 277 000 latent job seekers aged 15–74 years in the third quarter of 2021, of whom 131 000 were women and 146 000 were men. There were 150 000 latent job seekers among young people aged 15–24 years.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed persons, underemployed persons and latent job seekers together comprise the unused labour supply. In the third quarter of 2021, among people in the aged 15–74 years, the unused labour supply averaged 24.2 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 605 000 full-time employments with a 40-hour working week.

Labour market for people aged 20-64 years

The relative labour force participation rate among people aged 20–64 years was 88.5 percent in the third quarter of 2021, not seasonally adjusted. For women, the relative labour force participation rate was 86.0 percent and for men it was 90.8 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the labour force participation rate was 88.0 percent, an increase compared to the second quarter of 2021.

In the third quarter of 2021, the proportion of employed people aged 20–64 years was 81.9 percent, not seasonally adjusted. For women, this figure was 79.5 percent, and for men it was 84.1 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the employment rate was 81.0 percent, an increase compared with the second quarter of 2021.

According to non-seasonally adjusted data, the unemployment rate in the age group 20–64 years was 7.4 percent. The unemployment rate was 7.6 percent for women and 7.3 percent for men. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the unemployment rate decreased to 7.9 percent.

Swedish born and foreign born persons aged 20–64 years

In the third quarter of 2021, the relative labour force participation rate among Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 89.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women, the corresponding figure was 87.9 percent and among Swedish born men it was 91.1 percent. Among foreign born persons aged 20–64 years, the relative labour force participation rate was 85.3 percent in the third quarter of 2021. The labour force participation rate was 80.8 percent among foreign born women and 89.8 percent among foreign born men. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the labour force participation rate increased compared with the second quarter among both Swedish born and foreign born persons. Among Swedish born persons, the labour force participation rate increased to 89.1 percent, and among foreign born persons it increased to 84.7 percent.

In the third quarter of 2021, the proportion of employed persons among Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 85.9 percent, not seasonally adjusted. The employment rate was 84.8 percent among Swedish born women and 87.0 percent among Swedish born men the employment rate. Among foreign born persons the employment rate was 70.3 percent. Among foreign born women the corresponding figure was 64.8 percent, while among foreign born men it was 75.8 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the employment rate increased among both Swedish born and foreign born persons compared with the second quarter of 2021. Employment increased to 85.2 percent among Swedish born persons, and to 69.1 percent among foreign born persons.

The relative unemployment rate among Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 4.1 percent in the third quarter of 2021. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent among Swedish born women and 4.5 percent among Swedish born men. The unemployment rate among foreign born persons was 17.6 percent. Among foreign born women, the unemployment rate was 19.8 percent, and among foreign born men the corresponding figure was 15.6 percent. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the unemployment rate for Swedish born persons was 4.4 percent, a decrease compared with the second quarter of 2021. The unemployment rate among foreign born persons decreased to 18.4 percent.

2022-02-08, at 09:30.