Employment continues to grow in the second quarter (2023)

- We also see an increase in employment and the labor force in the second quarter of 2023. Employment has increased and long-term unemployment has continued to fall. Overall, this points to continued labor market strength in the second quarter, said Charlotte Breitz, a statistician for the SCB Labor Force Survey.

manpower

The non-seasonally adjusted labor force in the 15-74 age group was 5,795,000 in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 84,000. The number of women in the labor force was 2,756,000, an increase of 44,000, and the number of men was 3,039,000, an increase of 40,000. Relative labor participation increased 0.7 percentage points to 76.5%. The female labor force participation rate is 74.1 percent, compared to 78.9 percent for men.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number and proportion of the labor force compared to neighboring quarters. The active population is 5,711,000 people, which represents 75.4% of the total population.

employment opportunities

The non-seasonally adjusted employed population from 15 to 74 years old was 5,315,000 in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 86,000 compared to the same period last year. This represented an employment rate of 70.2%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points. The employment of women increased by 60,000 people, up to 2.53 million, while the employment of men reached 2,785,000. Among them, the female employment rate increased 1.3 percentage points to 68.0% and the male employment rate was 72.3%. The number of employed young people between the ages of 15 and 24 was 562,000. The employment rate of people between the ages of 15 and 24 is 47.5%.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in both the number and share of employment compared to neighboring quarters. In the second quarter of 2023, the number of employed is 5,286 million and the occupancy rate is 69.8%.

co-worker

The number of non-seasonally adjusted employees in the second quarter of 2023 was 4,792,000, an increase of 77,000 compared to the same period of the previous year. Among them were 2.382 million women, an increase of 63,000; 2.41 million men. The number of permanent employees was 4,055,000, an increase of 114,000. Among regular workers, the number of women increased by 84,000, up to 1,972,000, compared to 2,083,000 men. The number of temporary workers rose to 737,000. Among them are 410,000 women and 327,000 men.

Compared to adjacent quarters, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of employees and permanent employees and a decrease in the number of temporary employees. On a seasonally adjusted and smoothed basis, the number of employees is 4,765,000. The corresponding number of permanent employees is 4,046,000 and that of temporary employment is 719,000.

Working hours

In the second quarter of 2023, the non-seasonally adjusted average workweek was 159.2 million hours. On a seasonally adjusted and smoothed basis, the average workweek was 158.4 million hours.

Most employees are willing to work 35 hours or more per week, that is, a full-time job. In the second quarter of 2023, 4,157,000 people had full-time employment. Among them are 1,823,000 women and 2,334,000 men. A total of 244,000 people had short-term part-time jobs (1 to 19 hours), while long-term part-time jobs (20 to 34 hours) numbered 612,000.¹⁾

In the second quarter of 2023, the real median workday for workers ages 15-74 fell 0.5 hours to 30.0 hours per week. Women worked 27.7 hours per week, a decrease of 0.4 hours, and men worked 32.0 hours per week, a decrease of 0.6 hours.

^{1) The agreed working times for 2021 and 2022 do not include the second category of work, this is because the agreed working times for the second category of work have not been compiled since the implementation of EU Regulation 2019/1700. As of January 2023, the question on agreed working hours in ancillary activities was reintroduced and the Swedish LFS again reported the total number of agreed working hours. However, in the 2023 period, comparisons with the same period of the previous year have not been included.}

lack of employment

In the second quarter of 2023, 328,000 workers between the ages of 15 and 74 were underemployed. This is an increase of 37,000 compared to the second quarter of 2022. The number of women with a shortage of work was 160,000, while the number of men increased by 37,000. 23,000 to 169,000 people. The underemployed represented 6.2% of the employed.

unemployment

In the second quarter of 2023, the number of unemployed between 15 and 74 years of age without seasonal adjustment was 481,000. This equates to an unemployment rate of 8.3%. The number of unemployed women was 226,000 and that of men 254,000. The unemployment rate for women was 8.2% and for men 8.4%.

For people aged 15-74, the seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in both the number and share of the unemployed for adjacent quarters. In the second quarter of 2023, the number of unemployed will reach 426,000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 7.5%.

The number of long-term unemployed (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) in the 15-74 age group was 118,000 in the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of 28,000 compared to the second quarter of 2022. The number of women decreased by 18,000 the number of men rose to 49,000, while the number of men rose to 70,000.

The number of unemployed young people between the ages of 15 and 24 was 201,000, without seasonal adjustment. This equates to an unemployment rate of 26.3%. Of the unemployed youth, 137,000 were full-time students. For people ages 15-24, the seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in job losses compared to adjacent quarters. The number of unemployed youth reached 151,000 and the unemployment rate was 21.8%.

not in the labor market

The group "out of the labor force" includes people who are not classified as employed or unemployed. The non-work population was 1,776,000 in the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of 46,000 from the second quarter of 2022. The number of women and 813,000 men in the non-work population was 963,000.

Among those not in the labor force, the number of retirees fell by 31,000 to 846,000, the number of full-time students was 443,000, and the number of long-term sick leave was 289,000.

potential applicant

In the second quarter of 2023, there were 216,000 potential job seekers between the ages of 15 and 74. Among them are 108,000 women and 108,000 men. Among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, the number of potential job applicants is 96,000.

unused labor supply

The unemployed, the unemployed, and potential job seekers together form the unused labor supply. In the second quarter of 2023, the unused labor supply averaged 23.3 million hours per week. The unused labor supply corresponds to 583,000 full-time jobs with a 40-hour work week.

Labor market for people aged 20 to 64

The population provided by LFS is made up of the population between 15 and 74 years of age. However, for natural reasons, the labor market participation of young and old in this age group is quite low, since this group includes a large number of students and retirees. To better understand what is considered the core of the active workforce, the following section describes the 20-64 age group.

The non-seasonally adjusted relative employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 was 88.9% in the second quarter of 2023. The relative employment rate of women is 86.7%, compared to 91.1%. hundred of the men. The labor force participation rate increased at a smoothed and seasonally adjusted rate of 88.3%.

In the second quarter of 2023, the proportion of employed people between 20 and 64 years of age without seasonal adjustment was 83.2%. The corresponding figure for women was 81.2, an increase of 1.2 percentage points, and for men 85.2%. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in employment compared to the adjacent quarter. The employment rate reached 82.8%.

The unemployment rate for the 20-64 age group was 6.4% in the second quarter of 2023, based on seasonally adjusted data. The unemployment rate for women stands at 6.3% and that for men at 6.5%. On a smoothed and seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was 6.2%.

People born in Sweden and abroad between 20 and 64 years old

The relative employment rate of the Swedish-born aged 20-64 in the second quarter of 2023 was 89.5%, seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish-born women, the participation rate was 88.3 percent, and among Swedish-born men, the participation rate was 90.5 percent. Among the foreign-born population aged 20-64, the employment rate stands at 87.5%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over the same period in 2022. The corresponding figures for foreign-born women abroad are 82.5 percent and for men born abroad 92.5. percent. An increase of 2.3 percentage points. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show an increase in the employment rate for both the Swedes and the foreign-born. The employment rate is 88.7% for those born in Sweden and 87.0% for those born abroad.

In the second quarter of 2023, the proportion of the Swedish-born labor force aged 20-64, seasonally adjusted, was 86.1%. Among Swedish-born women the employment rate was 85.1% and among Swedish-born men the employment rate was 87.0%. The employment rate of the foreign population was 75.6%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points. The employment rate of foreign women was 71.1%, an increase of 4.7 percentage points. Among foreign-born men, this figure was 80.1 percent. The seasonally adjusted and smoothed data show that employment abroad increased compared to the neighboring quarter. The employment rate for the Swedish-born was 85.6%, compared to 75.2% for the foreign-born.

The seasonally adjusted relative unemployment rate for the Swedish-born aged 20-64 was 3.8% in the second quarter of 2023. Unemployment among Swedish-born women was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.9 percent among men. Foreign-born unemployment fell 1.7 percentage points to 13.6%. Among foreign-born women, it was 13.7 percent, down 4.2 percentage points; among foreign-born men, this was 13.5 percent. Natal unemployment in Sweden rose to 3.5% compared to the neighboring quarter, on a seasonally adjusted and smoothed basis. Among the foreign-born, the seasonally adjusted and smoothed unemployment rate fell to 13.6% from the adjacent quarter.