- The labour market situation remains good, both employment and hours worked are increasing. Especially among women, we see a positive development of the labour market, says Louise Stener, statistician at the Labor Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In March 2023, the number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 was 5 670 000, not seasonally adjusted, which is an increase of 125 000 compared to March 2022. The number of women in the labour force was 2 693 000, an increase of 74 000, and the number of men in the labour force was 2 977 000. The relative labour force participation rate amounted to 75.0 percent. This is an increase of 1.3 percentage points. Among women it was 72.4 percent, an increase of 1.6 percentage points, and for men it was 77.6 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 5 681 000, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 75.1 percent.

Employment

In March 2023, there were 5 236 000 employed people aged 15–74, not seasonally adjusted. This is an increase of 144 000 persons compared to March 2022. The number of employed women increased by 102 000 to 2 482 000 and the number of employed men was 2 753 000. The employment rate amounted to 69.3 percent, which is an increase of 1.6 percentage points. Among women the employment rate was 66.7 percent, an increase of 2.3 percentage points, and among men it was 71.7 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employed people aged 15–74 amounted to 5 266 000 and the employment rate was 69.6. This is an increase in both the number and the share of employed persons compared with recent months.

Employees

In March 2023, there were 4 684 000 employees, not seasonally adjusted, which is an increase of 97 000 compared to March 2022. The number of employed women increased by 90 000 to 2 329 000 and the number of men was 2 355 000. There were 4 021 000 permanent employees, an increase of 115 000. Among permanent employees the number of women was 1 973 000, an increase of 98 000, and the number of men was 2 049 000. The number of temporary employees amounted to 663 000, of which 356 000 were women and 307 000 were men.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employees was 4 750 000. The corresponding figure for permanent employees was 4 020 000 and for temporary employees 730 000. Compared with nearby months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number permanent employees.

Hours worked

The average number of hours worked in March 2023 amounted to 173.4 million per week, not seasonally adjusted. In calendar adjusted figures, this corresponds to an increase of 4.1 percent compared with March 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 161.1 million per week.

Unemployment

In March 2023, there were 434 000 unemployed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. The corresponding unemployment rate amounted to 7.7 percent. The number of unemployed women was 211 000 and the number of unemployed men was 224 000. The unemployment rate for women was 7.8 percent and the unemployment rate for men was 7.5 percent. The number of long-term unemployed (unemployed for at least 27 weeks) was 124 000. Among the long-term unemployed, 52 000 were women, a decrease of 22 000, and 72 000 were men. There were 161 000 unemployed young people aged 15–24, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 24.5 percent. Among unemployed young people, 116 000 persons were full-time students.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data there were 415 000 unemployed people, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, among people aged 15-74 years. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 149 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 21.9 percent.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together comprise the unused labour supply. In March 2023, the unused labour supply averaged 20.2 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 505 000 full-time employments with 40-hour work weeks.

2023-05-11, 08:00.