SWEDISH UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN AS DATA IS REVISED
A new method of calculating Sweden's
unemployment figures reduced the number of jobless by a sixth,
a spokesman for the Central Bureau of Statistics (SCB) said,
reporting a substantial drop in the past year.
    According to the revised data there were 94,000 jobless in
February representing 2.2 pct of the workforce against 120,000
or 2.8 pct of the workforce in February 1986.
    SCB official Olle Wessberg said the new figures were based
on a more extensive survey of the unemployed which brought
Sweden into line with the practises recommended by the
Geneva-based International Labour Organisation.
    Wessberg said the new method cut the number of unemployed
by about 16 pct. "The way we are now collecting data is far more
accurate and we are asking many more questions to find out
whether the jobless want work, whether they are able to work
and whether they have actually looked for work," he told
Reuters.
    The new method was first used for the January figures,
which showed unemployment dropping to 2.1 pct of the workforce
from 2.7 pct (old style) in December, but Wessberg said the
change had apparently not been noticed by the press.
    Recalculated according to the new method, unemployment in
February 1986 would have stood at 2.2 pct, the SCB said.
 REUTER
