– We see that temporary employees decrease, and unemployment increases during August 2023. Consequently, the labour market shows some signs of slowing down. To determine this development, further measurements are required, says Louise Stener, statistician at the Labour Force Surveys at Statistics Sweden.

Labour force

In August 2023, the number of people in the labour force aged 15–74 was 5 741 000, not seasonally adjusted. The number of women in the labour force was 2 743 000, an increase of 56 000 people compared to the same month the previous year. The number of men amounted to 2 998 000. The relative labour force participation rate was 75.6 percent. The labour force participation rate for women was 73.6 percent and for men 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 recent months. The number of people in the labour force amounted to 5 728 000, corresponding to a labour force participation rate of 75.6 percent.

Employment

In August 2023, there were 5 297 000 employed people aged 15–74, not seasonally adjusted. The number of employed women and men was 2 516 000 respective 2 781 000. The employment rate amounted to 69.8 percent. The employment rate among women was 67.5 percent and for men it was 72.0 percent.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employed people aged 15–74 amounted to 5 295 000 and the employment rate was 69.9 percent. This is an increase in both the number and the share of employed persons compared with recent months.

Employees

In August 2023, there were 4 792 000 employees, according to not seasonally adjusted data. The number of employees among women was 2 376 000 and the number of employees among men was 2 416 000. The number of permanent employees increased by 125 000 people compared to the same month the previous year and amounted to 4 087 000. The number of permanent employed women was 1 992 000, an increase of 71 000. The number of permanent employed men was 2 095 000. The number of temporary employees amounted to 705 000.This is a decrease with 112 000 people compared with corresponding month previous year. Among women, the number was 384 000, which is a decrease with 64 000 people. The number of temporary employed men decreased with 48 000 and was 321 000.

For seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the number of employees increased compared to recent months and amounted to 4 778 000. The number of permanent employees was 4 089 000 and the number of temporary employees was 688 000. Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the number of permanent employees, while the number of temporary employees decreased.

Hours worked

The average number of total hours worked in August 2023 amounted to 133.1 million per week, according to not seasonally adjusted.

Compared with recent months, seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows a decrease in the average number of hours worked and amounted to 156.1 million per week.

Unemployment

In August 2023, the number of unemployed people aged 15–74 years amounted to 444 000, not seasonally adjusted. The is an increase with 72 000 persons compared to corresponding month previous year. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, an increase of 1.1 percentage points. The number of unemployed women amounted to 227 000, an increase of 52 000 persons. The number of unemployed men was 217 000. The unemployment rate amounted to 8.3 percent for women, an increase with 1.8 percentage points. The unemployment rate for men was 7.2 percent. The number of long-term unemployed, unemployed for at least 27 weeks, amounted to 133 000 persons. Of the number of long-term unemployed, 59 000 were women and 74 000 were men. The number of unemployed young people aged 15–24 amounted to 129 000. The youth unemployment rate was 18.5 percent.

In correspond with previous months, the number of unemployed among people aged 15-74 increased and amounted to 433 000, according to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data. The unemployment rate also increased and amounted to 7.6 percent. Among young people aged 15–24 the number of unemployed amounted to 146 000. This corresponds to an unemployment rate of 21.1 percent.

Unused labour supply

Unemployed people, underemployed people and latent job seekers together constitute the unused labour supply. In August 2023, the unused labour supply amounted on averaged 22.4 million hours per week. The unused labour supply corresponds to 560 000 full-time employments with 40-hour work weeks.