Uncertain future for young people who want to work - youth unemployment close to 11 percent

During the first week in May, a total of 57,265 persons aged 18-24 were enrolled as unemployed at the Employment Service, which corresponds to 10.9 per cent of the young.

During the same week last year, this figure was 7.6 per cent and at the end of February this year it was 9.4 per cent.

According to Oskar Nordström Skans, professor of economics, the young people who are going out into the labor market are now at risk.

- It will, of course, affect young people quite negatively. It is clear in general in economic downturns that those who are affected first are those who have not really entered the labor market or who have not received permanent services, says Oskar Nordström Skans.

There is no exact forecast for how unemployment among young people will develop in the future.

- Youth unemployment is expected to increase in the future as a result of the service industry with important entry-level jobs in the labor market affected by notice and reduced demand as a result of the pandemic. How much unemployment among young people will rise in the future depends, among other things, on how long the crisis will be, says Sandra Offesson, who is a labor market analyst at the Swedish Employment Service.

Oskar Nordström Skans has researched the labor market for young people in previous crises and according to him, the first job can be crucial.

- It's very important. We know from both Swedish and international research that if you fail at that stage, you will have a much more difficult journey ahead. It does not mean that it is run and that you will never come back, but it does mean that you get a much more difficult process going forward.