Mismatch, long-term unemployment and post-COVID labour market programmes in the Nordic countries

Anders Forslund ()
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Anders Forslund: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

No 2025:5, Working Paper Series from IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract: This paper explores post-pandemic developments and analyses post-COVID matching dynamics in the Nordic labour markets. It also discusses the role of institutions and the policies implemented to address labour market mismatch in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a recession, with a rapid and sizeable downturn in the Nordic labour markets. They rebounded rapidly, however, and most aggregate measures of labour market performance returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Employment rates continued to rise and exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, high vacancy and unemployment rates continued to coexist after the pandemic. However, Sweden is the only Nordic country to show signs, albeit ambiguous ones, of increased labour market mismatch after the pandemic.

Keywords: employment; unemployment; labour market matching; active labour market policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 J08 J63 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 51 pages
Date: 2025-04-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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