In April, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2009. And since then, the number of unemployed has fallen slightly.
At the end of May, just under 319,000 people were registered as unemployed with the country's employment offices. This corresponds to 6.1 percent of the labor force and can be compared with 6.8 percent at the same period last year, according to the Swedish Public Employment Service's new statistics.
Expected to turn around
But there are signals that things are about to turn around. More people register as unemployed and fewer leave for a new job than at the same time last year. On Wednesday, the agency released its major forecast indicating that unemployment is expected to rise this autumn.
In addition, the number of redundancy notices is increasing now, to just over 5,700 people in May, slightly higher than the historical average.
Since May last year, unemployment has fallen across the country. Skåne, Södermanland and Gävleborg counties had the highest unemployment at the end of May, at eight per cent or just above. The share of unemployed persons was lowest in Västerbotten, 3.6 per cent.