There were 198,100 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in November 2017, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 194,700 persons were employed and 3,400 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 80.5%, employment rate was 79.2% and unemployment rate was 1.7%.
Comparison between November 2016 and 2017 shows that the labour force has decreased by 1,000 and the activity rate has reduced by 3.5 percentage points. Even though the number of people in employment is almost the same the employment rate decreased by 2.9 percentage points. The number of unemployed decreased by 1,200 and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 points. Those inactive were 47,900 compared with 37,800 persons in November 2016.
Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — November 2017
Figures may not add up because of rounding.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment 2.5% in November
The changes in the Icelandic labour market display a certain pattern as regards seasonality, as can be seen in the figures below. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of people in the labour force was 198,800 in November 2017. This corresponds to an 81% activity rate which is two percentage points lower than in October 2017. The number of unemployed persons in November 2017 was estimated to be 4,900, a decrease of 2,300 persons since October. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.5% in November compared with 3.5% in October. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 79% in November and decreased by one percentage point between months. The estimated number of inactive people increased from 41,800 in October to 46,600 in November. The trend for seasonally adjusted data in the last six months shows that activity rate has decreased by 0.4 percentage points, employment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points.
Implementation
November 2017 is divided into five weeks, from 30th of October to 3rd of December. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,509 persons, 16–74 years old, selected randomly from the registered population. When individuals out of scope had been removed from the sample, the net sample was 1,472 persons. In total, the number of answers was 991 which correspond to 67.3% response rate. The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.4 percentage points, employment rate ±2.5 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.0 percentage point, for November 2017. Figures may not add up because of rounding. All numbers for the first two months in every quarter of the year are preliminary until the end of the quarter.
| Table 1. Labour market in November — Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2015 | (±95%) | 2016 | (±95%) | 2017 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.9 | 2.4 | 84.1 | 2.4 | 80.5 | 2.4 |
| Employment rate | 80.0 | 2.6 | 82.1 | 2.5 | 79.2 | 2.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.6 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 1 |
| Hours of work | 40.5 | 1.2 | 39.8 | 1.2 | 39.1 | 1.1 |
| Labour force | 192,600 | 5,600 | 199,100 | 5,700 | 198,100 | 6,000 |
| Employed | 185,700 | 6,000 | 194,500 | 6,000 | 194,700 | 6,100 |
| Unemployed | 6,900 | 2,600 | 4,600 | 2,300 | 3,400 | 1,900 |
| Inactive | 39,600 | 5,600 | 37,800 | 5,700 | 47,900 | 6,000 |
| Est. population | 232,200 | • | 236,900 | • | 245,900 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | Oct-17 | Nov-17 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.5 | 81.2 | 81.7 | 81.2 | 83.0 | 81.0 |
| Employment rate | 80.4 | 79.7 | 79.5 | 78.7 | 80.0 | 79.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| Hours of work | 39.9 | 39.2 | 39.6 | 39.3 | 39.8 | 39.3 |
| Labour force | 198,000 | 194,500 | 195,900 | 198,300 | 203,600 | 198,800 |
| Employed | 193,000 | 190,800 | 190,800 | 192,000 | 196,400 | 193,800 |
| Unemployed | 5,000 | 3,700 | 5,100 | 6,300 | 7,200 | 4,900 |
| Inactive | 42,000 | 45,000 | 44,000 | 45,800 | 41,800 | 46,600 |
| Est. population | 240,000 | 239,500 | 239,900 | 244,100 | 245,400 | 245,300 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | Oct-17 | Nov-17 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.5 | 82.2 | 82.1 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.1 |
| Employment rate | 80.1 | 79.9 | 79.7 | 79.5 | 79.6 | 79.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Hours of work | 39.8 | 39.7 | 39.6 | 39.6 | 39.5 | 39.5 |
| Labour force | 198,600 | 198,700 | 199,000 | 199,500 | 200,100 | 200,500 |
| Employed | 193,000 | 193,000 | 193,200 | 193,500 | 194,000 | 194,500 |
| Unemployed | 5,700 | 5,700 | 5,900 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
| Inactive | 42,100 | 42,900 | 43,500 | 43,800 | 43,800 | 43,700 |
| Est. population | 240,800 | 241,600 | 242,500 | 243,300 | 243,900 | 244,200 |