Abstract
During the seventies growth in the Swedish economy was lower than in the preceding decades. This was particularly true for the manufacturing sector, where the number of employed decreased. At the same time, the public sector expanded, thus avoiding a reduction in the total number of employed. With the help of an ambitious labour market policy aggregate rates of open unemployment were kept at a relatively low level. If the perspective is limited to the labour market this might not seem alarming. However, unpleasant facts are hidden behind the aggregate figures. Some categories of the unemployed such as workers laid off from industry face dark re-employment prospects. The probabilities of re-employment have decreased for youth and older workers in general. The average length of unemployment spells appears to have increased and multiple spells of unemployment are common. This dissertation contain five studies of structural change and labour market adjustment in Sweden. Two of the studies rely on aggregate data. The other three studies are based on individual employment histories, allowing further insights into the labour market behaviour of the unemployed.