Labour Force Surveys (LFS), February 2024

Further reduction of temporary employees

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2024-03-15 8.00

In February 2024, the number of employed people amounted to 5 174 000, not seasonally adjusted. Among these, 589 000 people were temporary employees, which is a decrease of 98 000 people compared to February 2023. The average number of hours worked per week was 171.0 million. The number of unemployed people amounted to 480 000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed that the employment rate was 69.2 percent and that there was an increase in both the number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate, which amounted to 8.1 percent.

– We see no clear changes in total employment in February. However, we see a continued decrease in the number of temporary employees, says Stefan Andersson, statistician at the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In February 2024, the number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 amounted to 5 654 000, not seasonally adjusted. The number of women in the labour force was 2 707 000 and the number of men was 2 947 000. The labour force participation rate amounted to 74.5 percent. The labour force participation rate for women was 72.5 percent and for men it was 76.3 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of people in the labour force amounted to 5 718 000, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 75.3 percent.

Employment

There were 5 174 000 employed people aged 15–74 in February 2024, not seasonally adjusted. The number of employed women was 2 499 000 and the number of employed men amounted to 2 675 000. The employment rate was 68.1 percent. The employment rate among women amounted to 67.0 percent and for men it was 69.3 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employed persons aged 15–74 amounted to 5 253 000, which corresponds to an employment rate of 69.2 percent.

Employees

In February 2024, there were 4 673 000 employees, according to not seasonally adjusted data. The number of employees among women was 2 355 000 and among men it was 2 318 000. The number of permanent employees increased by 77 000 compared to February 2023 and amounted to 4 084 000. The number of permanent employed women amounted to 2 015 000 and the number of permanent employed men was 2 069 000. The number of temporary employees was 589 000, a decrease of 98 000 compared to the corresponding month previous year. The number of temporary employed women was 340 000 and the number of temporary employed men amounted to 249 000, a decrease of 49 000.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data the number of employees amounted to 4 735 000, of which the number of permanent employees was 4 077 000 and the number of temporary employees was 658 000. Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of permanent employees and a decrease in the number of temporary employees.

Hours worked

The average number of total hours worked in February 2024 amounted to 171.0 million per week, according to not seasonally adjusted data.

Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of hours worked. The average number of hours worked was on average 157.9 million per week.

Unemployment

In February 2024, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 years amounted to 480 000, not seasonally adjusted. The unemployment rate amounted to 8.5 percent. The number of unemployed women amounted to 208 000 and the number of unemployed men was 272 000. The unemployment rate for women amounted to 7.7 percent and for men it was 9.2 percent. The number of long-term unemployed, unemployed for at least 27 weeks, was 155 000. The number of long-term unemployed women were 64 000 and the number of men were 91 000. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 161 000. The youth unemployment rate was 25.1 percent. Among unemployed young people, 110 000 were full-time students.

Compared with recent months, the number of unemployed among people aged 15-74 increased and amounted to 465 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also increased and amounted to 8.1 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 156 000 and the unemployment rate was 23.2 percent. Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the unemployment rate among young people.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together constitute the unused labour supply. In February 2024, the unused labour supply averaged 22.4 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 560 000 full-time employments with 40-hour work weeks.