Sweden Jobless Rate Rises To 7.9%

(RTTNews) - Sweden's jobless rate increased slightly in August after falling to a 7-month low in July, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Wednesday.

The unadjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in August from 7.7 percent in July. In the same month last year, the jobless rate was also 7.7 percent.

The number of unemployed rose to 453,000 persons in August from 444,000 persons a year ago.

The youth unemployment rate, which is applied to the 15-24 age group, came in at 17.5 percent in August.

Meanwhile, the employment rate dropped to 69.6 percent in August from 71.7 percent in July. The number of employed persons declined to 5.29 million from 5.44 million.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in August versus 8.6 percent in July.