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The labor market in Sweden since the 1990s

Author

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  • Nils Gottfries

    (Uppsala University, Sweden, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

The economic crisis in the early 1990s brought about a dramatic increase in unemployment and a similar decrease in labor force participation. Unemployment declined afterwards, but stabilized at around 6–7%—more than twice as high as before the crisis. Today, the unemployment rate is lower than the EU average, though Sweden no longer stands out in this respect. The 2008 financial crisis had small effects on the Swedish labor market. Employment in industry declined sharply and then remained stagnant, but employment in the service sectors has continued to grow steadily.

Suggested Citation

  • Nils Gottfries, 2018. "The labor market in Sweden since the 1990s," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 411-411, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2018:n:411
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oskar Nordström Skans & Per-Anders Edin & Bertil Holmlund, 2009. "Wage Dispersion Between and Within Plants: Sweden 1985-2000," NBER Chapters, in: The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison, pages 217-260, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Laun, Tobias & Wallenius, Johanna, 2015. "A life cycle model of health and retirement: The case of Swedish pension reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 127-136.
    3. Anders Forslund & Nils Gottfries & Andreas Westermark, 2008. "Prices, Productivity and Wage Bargaining in Open Economies," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(1), pages 169-195, March.
    4. Edward P Lazear, 2006. "Productivity and Wages," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 39-45, October.
    5. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw, 2009. "The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number laze08-1.
    6. Lazear, Edward P. & Shaw, Kathryn L. (ed.), 2009. "The Structure of Wages," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226470504.
    7. Martin Werding (ed.), 2006. "Structural Unemployment in Western Europe: Reasons and Remedies," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262232464, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Holmberg, Johan, 2021. "Earnings and Labor Market Dynamics: Indirect Inference Based on Swedish Register Data," Umeå Economic Studies 984, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    2. Benjamin Friedrich & Lisa Laun & Costas Meghir, 2022. "Earnings dynamics of immigrants and natives in Sweden 1985–2016," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1803-1847, November.
    3. Thorleifsson, Oskar, 2021. "Unemployment Dynamics in the Nordics : Is there Heterogeneity in the Relative Importance of Ins and Outs?," Warwick-Monash Economics Student Papers 22, Warwick Monash Economics Student Papers.
    4. Gustafsson, Johan & Holmberg, Johan, 2023. "Permanent and transitory earnings dynamics and lifetime income inequality in Sweden," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Gustafsson, Johan & Holmberg, Johan, 2019. "Earning dynamics in Sweden: The recent evolution of permanent inequality and earnings volatility," Umeå Economic Studies 963, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    6. Gustafsson, Johan & Holmberg, Johan, 2022. "Permanent and transitory earnings dynamics and lifetime income inequality in Sweden," Umeå Economic Studies 1005, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    7. Walwei, Ulrich & Deller, Jürgen, 2021. "Labor Market Participation of Older Workers in International Comparison," IAB-Discussion Paper 202116, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Holmberg, Johan, 2021. "Earnings and Employment Dynamics: Capturing Cyclicality using Mixed Frequency Data," Umeå Economic Studies 991, Umeå University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment; employment; labor force participation; wage inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers

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