The labour force

In December 2020, there were 5 504 000 people aged 15–74 years in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. The number of men in the labour force increased by 67 000 to 2 920 000 and there were 2 584 000 women in the labour force. The relative labour force participation rate was 73.0 percent. Among women this rate was 69.7 percent and among men the rate was 76.1 percent, up by 1.6 percentage points. There were 556 000 young people aged 15–24 years in the labour force, corresponding to a labour participation rate for young people of 48.1 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 554 000 people in the labour force. The labour force participation rate was 73.7 percent, which is similar to the level in February, when the effects of COVID-19 were not yet discernible in the Swedish labour market. The lowest recorded levels for both the number of people in the labour force and the labour force participation rate were noted in March 2020.

Employment

In December 2020, there were 5 054 000 employed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. The number of employed women decreased by 69 000 to 2 368 000 and there were 2 686 000 employed men. The employment rate decreased by 1.0 percentage point and was 67.0 percent. For women the rate was 63.9 percent, a decrease of 2.0 percentage points, and for men the rate was 70.0 percent. There were 442 000 employed young people aged 15–24 years, and the employment rate among young people was 38.3 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 080 000 employed people. This is a decrease of 74 000 people, of whom 46 000 were young people, compared with February 2020. The employment rate was 67.4 percent, which is 1.1 percentage points less than in February 2020. However, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in employment of 77 000 people since the lowest recorded figure in June.

Employees

In December 2020, there were 4 583 000 employees, according to non-seasonally adjusted data. Among women the number of employees was 2 241 000 and among men there were 2 341 000 employees. There were 3 891 000 permanent employees and 692 000 temporary employees.

Compared with February 2020, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a decrease of 52 000 employees, and a decrease of 61 000 temporary employees. As with the employment rate, there has been an increase in the number of employees compared with June, when the lowest figure was noted.

Hours worked

In December 2020, the average number of hours worked was 129.1 million per week, not seasonally adjusted. In calendar-adjusted figures, this corresponds to a decrease of 4.2 percent compared with the corresponding month a year ago. In the industry hotel and restaurants the number of hours worked decreased by 40.0 percent, calendar adjusted, compared with December 2019, and personal and cultural services decreased by 23.7 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that the average number of hours worked per week was 149.3 million, which is 7.3 million hours per week less than in February 2020. In 2020, the lowest recorded figure of the number of hours worked per week was noted in April; this figure has since increased by 9.7 million hours.

At work and absence

There were 3 992 000 people employed and at work in December 2020, not seasonally adjusted. Calendar-adjusted, this corresponds to a decrease of 4.0 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

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 December 2020, this figure was 2 392 000. There were 1 079 000 people absent for the whole week in December 2020, not seasonally adjusted. Among these, 158 000 were absent due to illness, while 29 000 were absent for the whole week due to lack of work. There were 473 000 people absent due to holidays.

People who are absent due to lack of work or lay-offs are often absent for only part of the week. There were 59 000 people in total absent for the whole week or part of the week due to lay-offs. There were 66 000 people who stated lack of work as their main reason for absence.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed that there were 4 303 000 people at work, which is 79 000 fewer than in February 2020. There were 777 000 people absent for the entire week. In 2020, the lowest recorded figure of the number of employed people at work was noted in April. Since April, this figure has increased by 221 000 people.

Unemployment

In December 2020, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 years increased by 121 000 to 450 000, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent, up by 2.2 percentage points compared with the same month a year ago. The number of unemployed women increased by 62 000 to 216 000 and the number of unemployed men increased by 60 000 to 234 000. Among men the unemployment rate increased by 1.9 percent to 8.0 percent and among women it increased by 2.4 percent to 8.4 percent. There were 114 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24 years, which corresponds to a youth unemployment of 20.4 percent.

Among people aged 15–74 years, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase of 77 000 unemployed people, and an increase of 1.4 percentage points in the unemployment rate compared with February 2020. In December 2020, there were 475 000 unemployed people, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the highest level of unemployment in 2020 was noted in June. Since then,it has decreased by 0.6 percentage points. Among young people aged 15–24 years, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in both the number and proportion of unemployed people compared with February 2020. The number of unemployed young people increased by 12 000 to 141 000, and the unemployment rate increased by 3.2 percentage points to 23.8 percent.

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 159 000 employed people aged 15–74 years were absent during the whole reference week in December related to COVID-19. This means that among people who were absent during the entire reference week, 15.0 percent were absent due to COVID-19. This proportion was 14.9 percent for men and 15.0 percent for women.

Among employees aged 15–74 years who were absent during the entire reference week, 14.4 percent, which corresponds to 141 000 people, stated that their absence was related to COVID-19. This proportion was 13.7 percent for men and 15.0 percent for women. Furthermore, 14.3 percent of employees who were absent during part of the week, 165 000 people, stated that their absence was related to COVID-19. Among self-employed persons and assisting household members aged 15–74 years, 39.2 percent felt that they had less work due to the coronavirus pandemic, while 16.8 percent felt that they had more work.

Among persons who were not employed and who have left their employment since March, 110 000 stated that this was as a consequence of the pandemic.

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 December 2020, there were 2 038 000 people aged 15–74 years outside the labour force. Among these, 61 000 people stated that they would have been able to work, but had not sought work due to COVID-19. An additional 26 000 people stated that they had not been able to take a job due to COVID-19.

2021-02-23 at 9:30.