Sweden’s unemployment rate has reached its highest level in three years, with long-term joblessness showing a rising trend.
However, the Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) forecasts that the situation may improve in the coming months.
At the end of December 2024, 377,000 people—equivalent to 7.1 percent of the labor force—were registered as unemployed with the Public Employment Service. This marks an increase from 6.6 percent a year earlier and represents the highest figure since early 2022.
“Unemployment has increased across the board. The number of jobless individuals is higher than a year ago—among both women and men, Swedish-born citizens and immigrants, as well as young and older workers,”
said Eva Samakovlis, Head of Analysis at the Public Employment Service.
Currently, around 150,000 people have been without work for 12 months or longer, up by 10,000 compared with a year earlier.
Nevertheless, the number of layoffs is gradually declining, and Sweden’s economy is beginning to show signs of recovery.
“We believe that the unemployment rate will stop rising in the first half of 2025 and then gradually fall as the economy strengthens,”
Samakovlis added.