The outcome for LFS July 2023 should be used with some caution. The reason is that the uncertainty is greater during the summer because of increased mobility on the labour market.

- The number of permanent employees has increased for a long time and continued to increase during July 2023. The development is mainly driven by an increase in the number of permanently employed women, says Lena Johansson, statistician at the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In July 2023, the number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 was 5 897 000, not seasonally adjusted. This is an increase of 120 000 compared to the corresponding month last year. The number of women in the labour force was 2 807 000 and the number of men in the labour force was 3 090 000, an increase of 73 000 people. The relative labour force participation rate amounted to 78.0 percent, which is an increase of 1.3 percentage points. The labour force participation rate among women was 75.6 percent and the share of persons in the labour force among men increased by 1.4 percentage points to 80.2 percent.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in both the number and the share of persons in the labour force compared with recent months. The number of people in the labour force amounted to 5 735 000, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 75.7 percent.

Employment

In July 2023, there were 5 533 000 employed people aged 15–74, not seasonally adjusted. This is an increase of 128 000 people compared with the same month the year before. The number of employed women was 2 615 000, an increase of 62 000. The number of employed men increased by 66 000 and amounted to 2 918 000 people. The employment rate was 73.1 percent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points. Among women, the employment rate amounted to 70.5 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points. The employment rate among men was 75.7 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employed people aged 15–74 amounted to 5 318 000 and the employment rate was 70.2 percent. This is an increase in both the number and the share of employed persons compared with recent months.

Employees

In July 2023, there were 5 020 000 employees, not seasonally adjusted data. This is an increase of 90 000 people compared with corresponding month previous year. Among women, 2 442 000 were permanent employees and among men there were 2 578 000. The number of permanent employees increased by 131 000 people compared with recent month previous year and amounted to 4 125 000. Among permanent employees the number of women was 1 977 000, an increase of 72 000, and the number of permanent employed men was 2 148 000. The number of temporary employees amounted to 894 000, of which 465 000 were women and 430 000 men.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employees increased compared to recent months and amounted to 4 797 000. The number of permanent employees was 4 079 000 and the number of temporary employees was 717 000. Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of permanent employees.

Hours worked

The average number of hours worked in July 2023 amounted to 97.6 million per week, not seasonally adjusted.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data the number of hours worked amounted to 157.1 million per week.

Unemployment

In July 2023, there were 364 000 unemployed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent. The number of unemployed women amounted to 192 000 and the number of unemployed men was 172 000. The unemployment rate was 6.8 percent for women and 5.6 percent for men. The number of long-term unemployed (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) was 116 000, among which 56 000 were women and 59 000 were men.

There were 94 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24, not seasonally adjusted. The youth unemployment rate was 11.3 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data the number of unemployed amounted to 417 000 among people aged 15-74. In correspond with previous months, the unemployment rate decreased and amounted to 7.3 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 143 000. The unemployment rate among young people was 20.5 percent, which is a decrease compared with recent months.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together constitute the unused labour supply. In July 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.

2023-09-20, 08:00.