Sharp deterioration in the labour market for young people and foreign born persons
Work, Corona
27 Oct 2020
In the third quarter of 2020, the employment rate among persons aged 15–74 years was 67.6 percent, down by 1.6 percentage points compared with the same quarter a year ago. The unemployment rate increased by 2.1 percentage points to 8.6 percent. The largest increase was among persons aged 15–24 years and foreign born persons. The average number of hours worked amounted to 130.7 million per week, a decrease of 4.3 percent, calendar-adjusted. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows that unemployment continues to rise.
The relative labour force participation rate among Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 89.6 percent in the third quarter of 2020, non-seasonally adjusted. Among Swedish born women, the relative participation rate was 88.3 percent and among Swedish born men it was 90.9 percent. Among foreign born persons aged 20–64 years, the relative labour force participation rate was 83.3 percent in the third quarter of 2020. Among foreign born women the labour force participation rate increased by 2.4 percentage points and amounted to 77.6 percent. The labour force participation rate was 88.9 percent among foreign born men. According to seasonally adjusted and smoothed data, the labour force participation rate was 89.0 percent among Swedish born persons while the rate was 82.5 percent among foreign born persons, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2020.
In the third quarter of 2020, the share of employed Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 85.7 percent. This corresponds to a decrease of 1.1 percentage points, non-seasonally adjusted, compared with the third quarter of 2019. Among Swedish born women the employment rate was 84.8 percent, and among Swedish born men it was 86.5 percent, which is a decrease of 1.6 percentage points. Among foreign born persons, the employment rate was 67.6 percent, down 2.9 percentage points. For foreign born men, the corresponding figure was 73.3 percent, down 3.9 percentage points, and for foreign born women it was 61.8 percent. The seasonally adjusted and smoothed employment rate for Swedish born persons decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 84.8 percent, compared with the first quarter. For foreign born persons it decreased by 2.2 percentage points to 66.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2020.
The relative unemployment rate for Swedish born persons aged 20–64 years was 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of 1.0 percentage points. Unemployment among Swedish born women was 3.9 percentage points, and among Swedish born men it was 4.9 percent, up by 1.4 percentage points. Unemployment among foreign born persons was 18.9 percent, an increase of 4.7 percentage points compared with the third quarter of 2019. Among foreign born women, unemployment increased by 4.8 percentage points and amounted to 20.4 percent, and among foreign born men unemployment increased by 4.5 percentage points to 17.6 percent. Seasonally adjusted and smoothed data shows an increase in the unemployment rate for both Swedish born and foreign born persons, compared with the first quarter of 2020. The unemployment rate among Swedish born persons increased by 1.3 percentage points to 4.7 percent, and among foreign born persons it increased by 3.5 percentage points to 19.4 percent.
