At the end of May, 344,000 people, or 6.6 per cent of the labor force, were registered as unemployed at the country’s employment services. That is 78,000 fewer in one year, or a decrease from 7.9 percent. The reduction applies to all counties.
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Most clearly, youth unemployment is falling, down from 10.0 percent in May last year to now 7.7 percent. The labor market is currently characterized by a great demand for labor, mainly young people, in many service industries such as restaurants and trade.
The number of long-term unemployed is also clearly declining. In one, they have become 25,000 fewer and now amount to 164,000. This applies to those who have been without a job for more than a year. However, those who are furthest away, more than two years in unemployment, have increased in number, plus 4,000 to 98,000.
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Foreign-born people can also reap the benefits of a stronger labor market, although there are large differences compared to foreign-born people. At the end of May, 16.6 per cent of the foreign-born registered labor force was without a job. A year ago, that figure was 19.2 percent.
Notices of redundancies also remain at relatively low levels, 2,072 in May, compared with 2,272 in the same month last year.
Of the beginning, feared worse economic times are not very visible, not in the labor market in any case. On Wednesday, the Swedish Public Employment Service will release its large employment forecast for this year and next year, which is based on interviews with thousands of employers.