Sweden’s unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in September 2026 from 8.3% in the same period a year earlier. The total number of unemployed people declined by 9.5 thousand from September 2025 to 466.4 thousand, which consists of 239 thousand unemployed women and 227 thousand unemployed men, corresponding to 8.6% and 7.6%, respectively. Among people aged 15-24, 168 thousand were unemployed, corresponding to a youth unemployment rate of 20.8%. The number of long-term unemployed, defined as those jobless for at least 27 weeks, amounted to 173 thousand, with women accounting for 74 thousand and men 99 thousand. Meanwhile, employment among people aged 15-74 rose by 54.2 thousand from a year ago to 5.3 million, including 2.53 million women and 2.76 million men. The average total number of hours worked per week stood at 175.4 million. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was 8.7%, while the youth unemployment stood at 23.2%.