Sweden

1.Series

Title:

Arbetsmarknadsdata (Labour market data).

Starting year:

1992 (earlier series had different definitions).

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Arbetsförmedlingen (Public Employment Service).

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

National Labour Market Administration.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

There is generally at least one office in each municipality.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

  • Assisting job-seekers to find jobs;
  • Assisting job-seekers to establish their own business;
  • Assisting employers to find workers;
  • Vocational guidance;
  • Job-related training;
  • Paying unemployment compensation.

    Percentage of job-seekers seeking work through the agency:

    50%.

    3.The following information is registered about a person:

  • Name;
  • Sex;
  • Social security number (or similar identification number also used by other agencies);
  • Address of usual residence;
  • Date of birth;
  • Citizenship;
  • Educational/vocational attainment;
  • Current/past activity status, with 30 categories distinguished;
  • Type of work (occupation) of job sought, with 700 groups distinguished. Links to ISCO-88 have been established (unit groups level);
  • Previous registrations with the agency/service.

    4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Being without work (S);
  • Availability for work (must be able to take a job immediately) (S);
  • Being resident in the country (S).

    5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Death (R) and (S);
  • Taking up residency abroad (S);
  • Commencement of a (new) job (S);
  • Commencement of military service (S);
  • Participation in an employment promotion scheme, public works programme, etc. (S);
  • Studying or undergoing training (S);
  • Failure to contact the agency/service (S);
  • Receipt of a pension (S);
  • Inability to work (to be counted as unemployed a person must be able to take a job or, possibly, be under investigation).

    6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

    Persons without a job (except for a secondary job which it is possible to combine with a full-time regular job) receiving placement services or counselling or waiting to take part in an active labour market programme.

    7.Updating of the registers

    The registers are updated daily.

    8.Unemployment rates

    Statistics from the registers are used to obtain unemployment rates. The sources of data on employed persons who are part of the denominator of the unemployment rates are the Labour Force Survey and the Population Census.

    Definition of employed persons for this purpose:

    The population 18 to 64 years of age is most often used; sometimes from the Labour Force Survey (the employed are those who worked for at least one hour during the reference week and those who were temporarily absent).

    9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

    Series 1:

    Reference period:

    Week.

    Frequency of production:

    Weekly.

    Descriptive variables used:

  • Sex;
  • Age;
  • Geographic characteristics;
  • Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);
  • Duration of unemployment.

    Form of publication:

    On a website (www.ams.se).

    Agency responsible for publication:

    National Labour Market Board.

    Periodicity of publication:

    Weekly.

    Series 2:

    Reference period:

    Month; Quarter; Year.

    Frequency of production:

    Monthly.

    Descriptive variables used:

  • Sex;
  • Age;
  • Geographic characteristics;
  • Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);
  • Duration of unemployment.

    Form of publication:

  • On paper, for general audience;
  • On a website (www.ams.se).

    Agency responsible for publication:

    National Labour Market Board.

    Title and periodicity of the publication(s):

    Arbetsmarknadsdata, monthly.

    10.Methodological information about the statistics

    Form of release:

  • On paper, for general audience;
  • On a website (www.ams.se).

    Agency responsible for the release:

    National Labour Market Board.

    11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

    Comparisons are made with unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Survey. The response in the LFS is compared with the status according to the register at an individual level.

    Frequency of the comparisons:

    Regularly, when the statistics are published.

    Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

    These have not been published.

    12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

    There have been no major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures which had a significant influence on the statistics.