Sweden – The unemployment rate of 8.5 percent and LO is preparing for a regime change

In February 2014, the number of unemployed persons was 433 000, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. 4 648 000 persons aged 15-74 were employed; this is an increase of 51 000. The number of hours worked averaged 154.9 million per week, an increase of 3.3 million. Seasonally adjusted data shows small differences in the trend for both employment and unemployment.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Labour Force Survey (LFS), February 2014 – Statistiska centralbyrån.

Sweden’s biggest blue-collar union is preparing for a regime change after September elections and says it wants the next government to borrow more and raise taxes to save jobs.

Sweden, where unemployment is the highest in Scandinavia, should elect a Social Democratic-led coalition to ensure more is invested in education, elderly care, railways, roads and housing, Tobias Baudin, first vice president at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, known as LO, said in a March 13 interview in Stockholm.

Scandinavia’s biggest economy “must start to invest in what creates jobs” to “reduce the mass unemployment that’s so devastating in so many ways,” said Baudin, whose union represents 1.5 million workers. He wants the next government to raise income taxes on high wage earners, he said.

LO is throwing its weight behind a campaign to remove the four-party Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in Sept. 14 elections after it failed to live up to pledges to cut unemployment, Baudin said. Reinfeldt’s coalition is trailing by more than 15 percentage points in some polls amid voter concerns that multiple rounds of tax cuts since 2006 have led to a deterioration in education and health-care standards.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Swedes Losing Jobs Are Focus of Union Push for Regime Change – Bloomberg.

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