Swedish government postpones unemployment agency reform to defuse crisis

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish government and the centre-right parties backing it in parliament said on Monday they would postpone labour reforms, potentially defusing a row that had threatened the policy deal that keeps Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in power.

The governing Social Democrats and Greens, along with the centre-right Liberal and Centre parties that support it, said the reform of the country's unemployment agency would be postponed by one year and would be based on a different legal framework.