In Stats: How Sweden's employment figures changed this summer
Almost 6,000 more people found a new job in Sweden in July compared to the same month last year, despite the coronavirus crunch throwing record numbers of workers into unemployment. But it's not all good news.
In July, 478,081 people were registered as unemployed with Sweden's employment agency Arbetsförmedlingen, which is around 134,000 more than the same month last year.
Of those, 250,000 people were born outside of Sweden, including around 199,000 from a non-European country.
There are small signs of improvement: the downturn on the labour market appears to have slowed down, with fewer people becoming unemployed over the summer, compared to the peak of Sweden's coronavirus outbreak in spring.
The figures also show that around 26,800 people landed a new job in July, an increase of around 6,000 compared to 21,000 in July last year. One explanation could be that many of the people who lost their job during the coronavirus crisis would generally be in a good position on the labour market – with the right skills and education – and therefore find it easier to get a new job.
There are also some industries in Sweden that are still very much in need of staff despite the economic crisis, such as the healthcare and education sectors, and some retail sectors such as warehouse staff, writes the TT newswire.
But the situation is getting worse for the long-term unemployed. Around 165,000 people had been without a job for over a year in July, an increase of 16 percent compared to a year ago, according to Arbetsförmedlingen's report.
Many of those come from foreign countries. In July, almost 89,000 people born in non-European countries had been jobless for at least 12 months, an increase of 8,000 compared to the same month last year.
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In July, 478,081 people were registered as unemployed with Sweden's employment agency Arbetsförmedlingen, which is around 134,000 more than the same month last year.
Of those, 250,000 people were born outside of Sweden, including around 199,000 from a non-European country.
There are small signs of improvement: the downturn on the labour market appears to have slowed down, with fewer people becoming unemployed over the summer, compared to the peak of Sweden's coronavirus outbreak in spring.
The figures also show that around 26,800 people landed a new job in July, an increase of around 6,000 compared to 21,000 in July last year. One explanation could be that many of the people who lost their job during the coronavirus crisis would generally be in a good position on the labour market – with the right skills and education – and therefore find it easier to get a new job.
There are also some industries in Sweden that are still very much in need of staff despite the economic crisis, such as the healthcare and education sectors, and some retail sectors such as warehouse staff, writes the TT newswire.
But the situation is getting worse for the long-term unemployed. Around 165,000 people had been without a job for over a year in July, an increase of 16 percent compared to a year ago, according to Arbetsförmedlingen's report.
Many of those come from foreign countries. In July, almost 89,000 people born in non-European countries had been jobless for at least 12 months, an increase of 8,000 compared to the same month last year.
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