The number of people absent from work, and in particular absence due to illness, is substantially lower in January 2023 compared to January 2022. It is for the most part explained by the unusually high absence due to illness in January 2022.

– We see an increased employment in January 2023 compared to the corresponding month in 2022. Further, we do not see any major changes in the unemployment, however, there is a decrease in the long-term unemployment, says Michella Szukis, statistician at the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In January 2023, the number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 was 5 566 000, not seasonally adjusted, which is an increase of 78 000 compared to January 2022. The number of women in the labour force was 2 630 000 and the number of men increased by 60 000 to 2 937 000. The relative labour force participation rate amounted to 73.7 percent. Among women it was 70.9 percent and for men it was 76.4 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in both the number and the share of persons in the labour force compared with nearby months. The number of people in the labour force amounted to 5 652 000, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 74.8 percent.

Employment

In January 2023, there were 5 144 000 employed people aged 15–74, not seasonally adjusted, which is an increase of 114 000 compared to the corresponding month a year ago. The number of employed women amounted to 2 422 000 and the number of employed men increased by 60 000 to 2 722 000. The employment rate increased by 1.1 percentage points to 68.1 percent. Among women the employment rate was 65.3 percent and among men it was 70.8 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employed people amounted to 5 245 000 and the employment rate was 69.4. This is an increase in both the number and the share of employed persons compared with recent months.

There were 654 000 people absent for the whole week in January 2023, a decrease of 163 000 compared to the corresponding month a year ago. The decrease is for the most part explained by the unusually high absence due to illness in January 2022. Compared with previous months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a decrease in the number of people absent for the whole week. The number of absent people amounted to 767 000.

Employees

In January 2023, there were 4 635 000 employees, not seasonally adjusted, which is an increase of 99 000 compared to January 2022. Among those, 2 261 000 were women and 2 373 000 were men. There were 3 990 000 permanent employees, an increase of 84 000. Among permanent employees the number of women increased by 63 000 to 1 908 000, and the number of men was 2 082 000. The number of temporary employees amounted to 645 000, of which 353 000 were women and 292 000 were men.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employees was 4 728 000. The corresponding figure for permanent employees was 3 998 000 and for temporary employees 730 000. Compared with nearby months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of employees and permanent employees, and a decrease in the number of temporary employees.

Hours worked

The average number of hours worked in January 2023 amounted to 154.0 million per week, not seasonally adjusted. In calendar-adjusted figures, this corresponds to an increase of 9.0 percent compared with January 2022.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data there was an increase in the average number of hours worked compared with nearby months. The number of hours amounted to 159.0 million per week.

Unemployment

In January 2023, there were 422 000 unemployed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. The corresponding unemployment rate amounted to 7.6 percent. The number of unemployed women was 207 000 and the number of unemployed men was 215 000. The unemployment rate for women was 7.9 percent and the unemployment rate for men was 7.3 percent. The number of long-term unemployed (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) decreased by 34 000 to 122 000. Among the long-term unemployed, 57 000 were women and 65 000 were men. There were 124 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 20.2 percent. Among unemployed young people, 76 000 persons were full-time students.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a small decrease in the share of unemployed people aged 15-74 years compared with adjacent months. In January 2023 there were 407 000 unemployed people, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 144 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 21.2 percent.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together comprise the unused labour supply. In January 2023, the unused labour supply averaged 21.9 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 548 000 full-time employments with 40-hour work weeks.

2023-02-28, 08:00.