In March 2013, there were 4.6 million employed people in Sweden between the ages of 15 and 74, compared to 448,000 unemployed.
When the data was adjusted for seasonal variations, the number of unemployed came to 428,000, or 8.4 percent of the workforce, an increase of 48,000 from April, Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån – SCB) added.
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Meanwhile, some 65 percent of the Swedish population was employed.
Although the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate fell as low as 7.2 percent in September 2011, it has steadily risen since, hitting 8.2 percent in February.
SCB said that unemployment within the industrial sector posted a notable increase in the period, and that the number of jobless people aged between 20-24 has now reached 21.8 percent.
The jobless data was worse-than-expected according to an analyst poll made by Dow Jones Newswires which had forecast it at 8.4 percent on an unadjusted basis.
The country’s Central Bank expects Swedish unemployment for 2013 as a whole to come in at 8.2 percent.
AFP/The Local/og
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