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Wednesday’s statistics from the Swedish Public Employment Service are gloomy reading for Strömstad. In a municipality where politicians before the pandemic used to boast that there was no unemployment, the figure had risen to 9.5 percent in October. The 4.1 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year is the largest in the entire country. Only the municipality of Sigtuna with Arlanda airport as the main employer comes close with 3.9.
It is largely the sharply reduced cross-border trade due to the crown crisis that is behind the situation in Strömstad and the loss of income for shopaholic Norwegians is echoing through the water.
– It has a domino effect and affects other parts of society, says Heidi Caroline Nyström, the Norwegian who has a gift shop in the city center.
She calculates that the turnover in the business will decrease about 40 percent this year and claims that it has done relatively well. Large grocery stores in Nordby are reporting sales losses of more than 90 percent and many of the other stores in the large and previously prosperous Svinesund shopping center, right on the Norwegian border, have had to close. It’s a creepy atmosphere.
Nyström compares how it looked in American Detroit after the city went bankrupt and says it soon runs the risk of looking the same in central parts of Strömstad.
Heidi Caroline Nyström is similar to Strömstad’s development in Detroit.
Photo: Jenny Ingemarsson
On Monday, the government introduced a new support package, which included extended redundancy support. The move has been long overdue and Nyström says it raises hope but worries that a lot of damage has already been done.
– Now it is important that the notices that are posted are removed, but even if it is still early, we have not received any sign that this happens, he says and refers to friends who have lost their jobs.
Strömstad is a small municipality with just over 13,000 inhabitants and just under half between 16 and 64 years old. In October, 574 of them were openly unemployed or looking for work to support the activity. Thanks to its location atop Bohuslän, Strömstad has long been the municipality that has benefited the most from cross-border trade. Many merchants have had many good years. Now Norwegian travel restrictions hit harder compared to here in neighboring municipalities.
The cry for help in the face of the precarious situation has been launched from local and regional political circles. The Strömstad municipal leadership has written a letter to Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and called for action. Already this summer, the president of the city council Kent Hansson (S) in DN warned that they began to see social problems in the wake of unemployment.
The leader of the group of moderates, Marie Edvinsson Kristiansen, says they now also see signs that the city’s youth are moving to try to find work elsewhere. When the infection increases again, it is difficult to see any relief.
– We don’t seem to have Christmas shopping either, says Edvinsson Kristiansen.
She agrees that Strömstad has become too reliant on cross-border trade and tourism and says they have tried to have more legs to stand on, but that these activities cannot replace the jobs that are now being lost. He is also concerned that the pandemic will affect the relationship between Swedes and Norwegians in the long term and thus also cross-border trade which has not only given the municipality but also the state large tax revenues.
– In the last ten years, the retail trade in Strömstad has invoiced 84 billion, which means that we have paid more than twelve billion in VAT rates, says Edvinsson Kristiansen and refers to figures from the Swedish trade.
She believes the state should consider giving back in the form of local and regional support.
During Wednesday A large number of stakeholders met in a video conference with Foreign Minister Anna Hallberg to express concern about the situation. The new support package is welcome, but several smaller employers want to see direct measures regarding rent support and the so-called reference month, which is used to calculate severance support.
To curb negative development, the municipality, together with, among others, the Swedish Public Employment Service, has decided to start a conversion office. Here, job seekers will be helped with other jobs and education, but also with adjusting their craft to be more digital.
All municipalities in Västra Götaland, except Åmål, where unemployment is highest in the region at 13%, show an increase, but none as large as Strömstad. Here, the increase is also stronger compared to other municipalities with cross-border trade.
– In the municipalities of Värmland, trade has been going for some periods and that may be one reason why they have not been so affected, says Leif Johansson, head of the employment service in Fyrbodal.
The Social Democratic leadership in Strömstad it has warned of an unemployment rate of up to 20 percent. Johansson says it’s difficult to estimate, but he fears the figure will rise further. He hopes the bureau of adjustment will help slow development, and says it doesn’t just have to be new jobs.
– The opportunities to study through the CSN or with the support of activities have increased, says Johansson.
