Unemployment falls in Sweden, but no one knows what the future holds

Just over 360,000 people, or 6.8 percent of Sweden’s total workforce, were registered as unemployed with Sweden’s Public Employment Service at the end of February.

That’s around 18,000 fewer than at the same time last year, according to the service’s press statement.

“The global situation is again unstable and the knock-on effects are difficult to predict,” warned Eva Samakovlis, head of analysis for the Public Employment Service.

“We note that the labour market is continuing to recover even if unemployment remains high. It will be important, going forward, to keep an eye on how the labour market reacts.”

Out of foreign-born people, unemployment stood at 14.3 percent, down from 15.7 percent year on year.

The corresponding figure for native-born Swedes was 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent.