NEWS RELEASE LABOUR MARKET 23 NOVEMBER 2017

There were 201,100 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in October 2017, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 193,800 persons were employed and 7,200 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 82%, employment rate was 79% and unemployment rate was 3.6%.

Comparison between October 2016 and 2017 shows that activity rate stayed the same. Even though number of people in employment increased by 4,900 the employment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points. The number of unemployed increased by 2,000 and the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 points. Those inactive were 44,300 compared with 42,600 persons in October 2016.

Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — October 2017



Figures may not add up because of rounding.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment 3.6% in October
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 203,200 in October 2017. This corresponds to an 82.8% activity rate which is 1.7 percentage points higher than in September 2017. The number of unemployed persons in October 2017 was estimated to be 7,300, an increase of 800 persons since September. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in October compared with 3.3% in September. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 79.8% in October and increased by 1.4 percentage points between months. The estimated number of inactive people decreased from 46,300 in September to 42,300 in October. The trend for seasonally adjusted data in the last six months shows that activity rate has decreased by 0.2 percentage points and employment rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points. There was, however, an increase in the unemployment rate by 0.5 percentage points.

 

 

Implementation
October 2017 is divided into four weeks, from 2nd to 29th of October. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,211 persons, 16–74 years, selected randomly from the Population Register. When individuals out of scope had been removed from the sample, the net sample was 1,181 persons. In total, the number of answers was 787 which correspond to 66.6% response rate. The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.6 percentage points, employment rate ±2.8 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.6 percentage points, for October 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 October — Original
    CI   CI   CI
  2015 (±95%) 2016 (±95%) 2017 (±95%)
Total 16–74 years            
Activity rate 80.7 2.3 82.0 2.5 82.0 2.6
Employment rate 77.7 2.4 79.8 2.6 79.0 2.8
Unemployment rate 3.8 1.3 2.7 1.2 3.6 1.6
Hours of work 40.9 1.2 40.2 1.3 40.1 1.3
Labour force 186,500 5,300 194,100 5,900 201,100 6,400
Employed 179,300 5,600 188,900 6,200 193,800 7,000
Unemployed 7,100 2,400 5,200 2,400 7,200 3,200
Inactive 44,500 5,300 42,600 5,900 44,300 6,400
Est. population 230,900 236,600 245,300
Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment
  May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17
Total 16–74 years            
Activity rate 83.2 82.9 81.4 81.9 81.1 82.8
Employment rate 80.5 80.8 79.9 79.6 78.4 79.8
Unemployment rate 3.2 2.5 1.9 2.8 3.3 3.6
Hours of work 40.3 39.9 39.3 39.6 39.4 39.9
Labour force 199,000 198,100 194,500 196,600 198,300 203,200
Employed 192,700 193,000 190,900 191,100 191,800 195,900
Unemployed 6,400 5,000 3,600 5,500 6,500 7,300
Inactive 40,200 40,800 44,300 43,500 46,300 42,300
Est. population 239,300 238,900 238,900 240,200 244,600 245,500
Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend
  May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17
Total 16–74 years            
Activity rate 83.0 82.8 82.7 82.7 82.7 82.7
Employment rate 80.6 80.4 80.2 80.1 80.0 79.9
Unemployment rate 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.3 3.4
Hours of work 40.0 39.9 39.7 39.7 39.6 39.6
Labour force 199,200 198,900 199,100 199,500 200,000 200,400
Employed 193,500 193,100 193,100 193,300 193,500 193,700
Unemployed 5,700 5,900 6,000 6,200 6,500 6,700
Inactive 40,900 41,400 41,600 41,800 41,900 41,800
Est. population 240,200 240,300 240,700 241,300 241,900 242,300

Statistics

 

Further Information

For further information please contact 528 1284 , email kannanir@hagstofa.is

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