Seasonally adjusted and smoothed, Sweden’s unemployment rate stood at 8.4 percent in August, the same as the previous month but higher than the same month last year.

But there’s a glimmer of hope.

“The development of the labour market appeared subdued in August. However, some positive signals can be observed. The seasonally adjusted and smoothed employment number is increasing, similar to the previous month,” said Philip Krantz, statistician for official number-crunchers Statistics Sweden’s labour force surveys, in a statement.

A total of 5,257,000 people aged 15-74 were employed in August, amounting to an employment rate of 69.2 percent, again seasonally adjusted and smoothed.

That’s an increase both in terms of the exact number and the proportion of employed people compared to recent months, noted Statistics Sweden in the report.

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Youth unemployment remains high, with an unemployment rate of 23.8 percent among people aged 15-24 – or in other words, 164,000 jobless people in that age group.

So is there light on the horizon?

Yes, but so far just a flicker. The government warned last month that Sweden is seeing its highest unemployment rate in a decade, excluding the years of the pandemic, with Liberal leader Johan Pehrson calling on people to “make themselves employable”.

In the past year, several major tech companies have announced significant layoffs, with green transition star Northvolt the latest player to warn of a reduction to its workforce.

The market is still moving slowly, but on the brighter side, the current recession is expected to bottom out this year, which should have a positive impact on jobs.

Labour analysts have said they believe 2025 will bring about a turnaround in the labour market, but it is still likely going to take some time before Sweden is back to the same unemployment level as it was before the recession and cost-of-living crisis.