Sweden: Gradual improvement with elevated unemployment – Nordea

Nordea’s Anna Westlund reports that Swedish employment has been rising since early 2025, with BAS and LFS data both showing a positive trend. Forward-looking indicators and higher job vacancies point to strengthening labour demand, and Nordea expects unemployment to fall over the year, although it remains elevated and resource utilization in the labour market is still below normal.

Employment rising but slack still evident

"Employment plans have gradually improved during the second half of 2025."

"Plans have dampened at the start of this year, but remain positive indicating increasing demand for labour going forward."

"Overall, the labour market continues to strengthen."

"Forward-looking indicators point to rising labour demand, and employment is expected to continue increasing faster than the labour force, leading to falling unemployment over the course of the year."

"Regardless of the data source chosen, unemployment is elevated."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)