Swedish jobless rate rose slightly in November. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 6.1 percent in the month, coming in below the Riksbank’s view of 6.4 percent. Employment rose above expectations by 0.2 percent sequentially in the month, which is healthy considering that employment rose swiftly in the two previous months, noted Nordea Bank in a research report.
The upward trend in the labor force is more gradual, explaining the fall in unemployment in recent months. Overall, the deceleration in GDP growth has not had any major effect on employment so far. This is significant for the Riksbank as high resource utilization is a precondition for normalizing rates and as other data has been disappointing. Therefore, the November Labor Force Survey underpins the view that the central bank will hike rates next week, added Nordea Bank.
