Economics

Labor Bottlenecks Now Imperiling Sweden’s Economic Boom Times

  • Refugee inflow exacerbates housing shortage in large cities
  • OECD sees risk of productivity crisis in Swedish economy

Residential housing in the Sodermalm district of Stockholm, Sweden.

Photographer: Casper Hedberg/Bloomberg
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A lack of available labor is emerging as one of the biggest threats to the Swedish economic boom.

It’s most acutely felt in the construction industry, which is bumping up against its capacity limits in a race to provide housing as a record inflow of refugees swells the population in the largest Nordic nation.