According to the trend, we can actually only detect an increase during the second half of the 1990s, which was broken recently both due to economic activity and to more structural causes. Several factors lie behind this development. Once again it is natural to go back to the crisis years in the early 1990s. At that point the number of hours worked declined significantly as a result of the large fall in demand that took place. Parallel with this, structural changes were implemented. Young people on the verge of working life chose to continue studying, partly because of the lack of jobs, partly because developments on the labour market meant that higher educational demands were made. Another explanation could be that the number of older persons in the labour force also declined considerably during the same period. The labour supply in the age group 60-64 years fell by approximately 40,000 persons during the 1990s, despite the fact that this group's percentage of the population did not change significantly. In addition, the number of people taking early retirement increased at an alarming rate. Recently, as we are all aware, the amount of sick leave has increased. BIS Review 16/2003  3  Another factor that appears to have had some significance is that the Swedish labour market has not been able to make adequate use of the labour reserve comprised of inhabitants who were born abroad. The employment frequency among these people has been much lower than the employment frequency among people born in Sweden.
John C Williams: Bridging the skills gap Remarks by Mr John C Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the "Skilling the Gap: Building Local Talent for InDemand Careers", Columbia-Greene Community College, Hudson, New York, 21 October 2022. ***  As prepared for delivery Thank you for that kind introduction. I'm so pleased to be here-especially at this time of year, when the autumn colors light up the region. In fact, my wife and I have fallen in love with this area-so much so, that we are now splitting our time between Columbia County and New York City. Of course, I'm not just here as your neighbor. Part of my job as president of the New York Fed-one of the best parts-is to meet with business and community leaders from across the Federal Reserve's Second District. This gives me the opportunity to see and hear the challenges they face. And throughout the Second District-which includes New York State, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands-the issues I hear about consistently have to do with labor shortages and the skills gap. Employers can't find enough skilled workers-and workers can't obtain the skills they need to move up the economic ladder. Before I go any further, I will give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee or others in the Federal Reserve System.