Swedish jobless rate decreased unexpectedly in May, the latest figures from Statistics Sweden showed Wednesday.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in May from April's 8.7 percent. Economists expected the rate to edge up to 8.8 percent.
The seasonally adjusted rate was 7.9 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the number of unemployed persons in the country totaled 417,000 in May.
The number of employed persons aged 15-74 amounted to 4.67 million. Compared to May 2012, this is an increase of 51,000 persons. The employment rate for May was 65.3 percent.
Last week, Sweden's Public Employment Service said that the unemployment rate was 4 percent in May compared with 4.3 percent in April.
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