More Swedes Employed

Unemployment among both foreign-born and native Swedes continued to drop in the first month of the year, according to new figures, The Local reported. Sweden’s overall unemployment rate stood at 7.4% in January, down from 7.8% at the same time last year, according to the Swedish Public Employment Service, Arbetsformedlingen. Concern has previously been raised about a widening unemployment gap between native Swedes and foreign-born job seekers, but unemployment among the latter appears to have turned a corner. In January 21% of foreign-born people in Sweden were registered as unemployed, down by 1.2 percentage units in one year. “The labor market is very strong with the number of jobs growing. We’re seeing a clear drop in unemployment for foreigners, although there’s still a significant difference between them and native-born, where unemployment is now at a record low,” said Arbetsformedlingen analyst Annika Sunden. Youth unemployment is also falling, with 9.6% of people aged 18-24 registered as unemployed in January, compared to 11.3% in the same period last year.