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 with previous months in 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 August that is 91 000 fewer than according to the previous method.

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

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

The labour force

In August 2021, there were 5 602 000 people aged 15–74 years in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 952 000 men and 2 650 000 women in the labour force. The relative labour force participation rate was 74.5 percent. This rate was 77.3 percent for men and 71.7 percent for women.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 572 000 people in the labour force and the labour force participation rate was 74.2 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of people in the labour force, as well as in the labour force participation rate.

Employment

In August 2021, there were 5 124 000 employed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 426 000 employed women and 2 697 000 employed men. The employment rate was 68.2 percent. This rate was 65.7 percent for women and 70.6 percent for men.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 074 000 employed people and the employment rate was 67.6 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in both the number of employed people and the employment rate.

Employees

In August 2021, there were 4 556 000 employees according to non-seasonally adjusted data. Among employees, there were 2 267 000 women and 2 289 000 men. There were 3 837 000 permanent employees and 719 000 temporary employees.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 4 566 000 employees. There were 3 858 000 permanent employees and 709 000 temporary employees. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of permanent employees.

Hours worked

In August 2021, the average number of hours worked was 130.4 million per week, not seasonally adjusted. During the summer months, hours worked are usually lower, mainly due to holidays.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed that the total average number of hours worked per week was 152.8 million, an increase compared with previous months in 2021.

At work and absence

There were 3 663 000 people employed and at work in August 2021, not seasonally adjusted. Using different measurement weeks in 2020 and in 2021 may have led to a slight overestimation of the number of people at work; the measurement weeks for August 2021 were largely located after the holiday period.

The LFS estimates the number of people who were absent from their principal occupation for the whole week or for part of the week by main reason for absence. In August 2021, this figure was 2 067 000, not seasonally adjusted. There were 1 478 000 people absent for the whole week in August 2021. Among these, 106 000 people were absent due to illness, while 1 110 000 people were absent due to holidays.

In August 2021, the number of people who stated that they were absent due to lay-offs was too small to present an estimate. The same applies for people absent due to lack of work.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed that there were 4 291 000 people at work. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of people at work.

Unemployment

In August 2021, there were 479 000 unemployed persons aged 15–74 years, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. There were 255 000 unemployed men and 224 000 unemployed women, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent for men and 8.4 percent for women. Among those who were unemployed, 182 000 had been unemployed for more than six months.

In August, there were 498 000 unemployed persons according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed a decrease in the number and in the proportion of unemployed people.

Additional questions on the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market

In view of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, questions about the impact of COVID-19 have been added to the LFS. The answers to these questions show that 42 000 employed people aged 15–74 years were absent during the whole reference week in August related to COVID-19. This means that among people who were absent during the entire reference week, 2.9 percent were absent due to COVID-19.

Among employees aged 15–74 years who were absent during the entire reference week, 2.6 percent, which corresponds to 35 000 people, stated that their absence was related to COVID-19. Furthermore, 16.0 percent of employees who were absent during part of the week, 83 000 people, stated that their absence was related to COVID-19. Among self-employed persons and assisting family members aged 15–74 years, 34.7 percent felt that they had less work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while 21.0 percent felt that they had more work.

To be classified as unemployed in the LFS, a person must be without a job, must be able to start work and must have sought work. This means that people who are without a job, but who have not been seeking work or are unable to start work are not classified as unemployed, but are classified, instead, as not in the labour force. In August 2021, there were 1 915 000 people aged 15–74 years not in the labour force. Among these, 42 000 people stated that they would have been able to work, but had not sought work due to COVID-19.

2021-10-21, 09:30.