The figures concerning the number of unemployed people in September 2021, including the distribution between women and men, should be treated with caution due to a higher level of non-response than usual.

Since 1 January, the Swedish LFS is in compliance with the new EU framework regulation on social statistics (Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council). This framework regulation has involved changes in the definition of employment, the sampling procedure, and the structure of the questionnaire. These changes have caused breaks in the time series and therefore, this item of statistical news does not include any comparisons with previous years. Comparisons with previous months in 2021 are possible for seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. However, comparisons with previous years are not advised. Throughout 2021, parallel measurements will be used to make it possible to link data backwards in time and make the series comparable with previous years.

The number of employed persons has been affected, partly due to the change in the definition; people who are completely absent from work for three months or more for certain reasons are no longer classified as being employed. Furthermore, new and updated information is used in the weighting procedures, which improves the precision in the estimates, although it also affects the levels of the number of employed persons. The change in the definition and the new weighting procedure led to a total estimated number of employed persons in September that is 26 000 fewer than according to the previous method.

Besides the number of employed persons, other estimates have also been affected by a change in definition, target population, and survey design. The new auxillary information has also affected the other estimates.

The labour force

In September 2021, there were 5 550 000 people aged 15–74 years in the labour force, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 615 000 women and 2 935 000 men in the labour force. The relative labour force participation rate was 73.8 percent. This rate was 70.7 percent for women and 76.8 percent for men.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 584 000 people in the labour force and the labour force participation rate was 74.3 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of people in the labour force, as well as in the labour force participation rate.

Employment

In September 2021, there were 5 096 000 employed people aged 15–74 years, not seasonally adjusted. There were 2 377 000 employed women and 2 719 000 employed men. The employment rate was 67.8 percent. This rate was 64.3 percent for women and 71.2 percent for men.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 5 092 000 employed people and the employment rate was 67.8 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in both the number of employed people and the employment rate.

Employees

In September 2021, there were 4 620 000 employees according to non-seasonally adjusted data. Among employees, there were 2 256 000 women and 2 364 000 men. There were 3 927 000 permanent employees and 693 000 temporary employees.

According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, there were 4 585 000 employees. There were 3 877 000 permanent employees and 709 000 temporary employees. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed an increase in the number of permanent employees.

Hours worked

In September 2021, the average number of hours worked was 170.6 million per week, not seasonally adjusted.

Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed that the total average number of hours worked per week was 153.0 million, an increase compared with previous months in 2021.

Unemployment

In September 2021, there were 454 000 unemployed persons aged 15–74 years, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. There were 238 000 unemployed women and 216 000 unemployed men, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent for women and 7.4 percent for men. Among those who were unemployed, 173 000 had been unemployed for more than six months.

In September, there were 492 000 unemployed persons according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent. Compared with previous months in 2021, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data showed a decrease in the number and in the proportion of unemployed people.

2021-11-18, 09:30.