Råbergstorp in Eskilstuna is the district with the highest unemployment in Sweden

SVT's unique survey of unemployment in individual districts around the country shows those who were openly unemployed.

This means that you actively seek a job but do not participate in any labor market policy program.

In 2020, 44.8 percent of the population was at some point openly unemployed in the Lagersberg-Råbergstorp area.

In Fröslunda-Vilsta, 40.8 per cent were at one time in open unemployment.

The survey is based on statistics from Statistics Sweden, Statistics Sweden, which also categorizes these districts as areas with major socio-economic challenges.

Generally high unemployment

Malin Skoglund, area manager at the labor market and adult education administration, believes that the figures for unemployment in these housing areas are in line with what today's figures would look like.

- I do not think that much has happened since then, she says.

Common to the districts is that the majority who live there have a foreign background.

Malin Skoglund explains that there is generally a high level of unemployment in Eskilstuna, but that those born abroad have an extra challenge to enter the labor market.

Housing segregation a cause 

Both Malin Skoglund and Annelie Benli, who are supervisors at Jobbcentrum, believe that one of the reasons why unemployment in these areas is high may be due to housing segregation.

- Unemployment for an individual is in itself an exclusion and we then have specific areas such as Lagersberg, Fröslunda, Råbergstorp, there are also other areas in Eskilstuna where we have a high unemployment, then it is clear that there will be an exclusion in the whole area , says Malin Skoglund.

• Helen Tesfay and Ruwayda Ahmad Abdi have both recently moved from Lagersberg, but they previously lived there for several years and know the area.

In the video above, they tell what they think about the high unemployment in the district.

- Statistics can say something, but what we experience is something else, says Ruwayda Ahmad Abdi.

Hear her and Helen Tesfay tell more about what they think about the high unemployment in Lagersberg.

Photo: Fanny Asplund / SVT

The pandemic affected

Erik Karlsson, who is a business adviser at the Swedish Public Employment Service, says that unemployment in Sörmland has fallen.

- If you look at the group of foreign-born, you see reductions, but it is still high.

In 2020, many lost their jobs due to the pandemic and Erik Karlsson explains that many foreign-born people were affected.

- In Sörmland, many service industries were affected, including the hospitality industry and the sales industry, where many foreign-born had their jobs.