According to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey the number of persons in the labour force in January 2016 was 192,500. Of those in the labour force 187,200 persons were employed and 5,400 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 81.7%, the employment rate was 79.5% and the unemployment rate was 2.8%. Comparison between January 2015 and 2016 shows an increase both in activity and employment, and decrease in unemployment. The activity rate increased by 1.6 percentage points or by 7.700 persons. The employment rate increased by 2.8 points or by 10.400 persons and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.5 points or by 2.600 persons.
Figure 1. Labour force January 2016
Figures may not add up because of rounding.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.5% in January 2016
According to the seasonal adjustment the estimated number of people in the labour force was 196,100 in January 2016, which correspond to 83.2% activity rate and is 0.8 points higher than it was in December 2015. The employment rate was 81.1% and has increased by 0.4 points since December. The unemployment rate was 2.5% in January compared to 2.1% in December. The trend line for the last six months shows that the number of unemployed persons has decreased by 1,100 while the number of employed persons increased by 4,400.
Implementation
December 2015 is divided into four weeks, from 4th to 31st of January. The total sample size was 1,215 persons, 16–74 years, randomly chosen from the Population Register. When those who had passed away and those who were living abroad had been deducted from the sample the net sample was 1,170 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 908 which correspond to 77.6% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on activity rate is ±2.4 point, employment rate is ±2.6 points and unemployment rate is ±1.2 points. 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 January - Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2014 | (±95%) | 2015 | (±95%) | 2016 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 79.3 | 2.2 | 80.1 | 2.2 | 81.7 | 2.4 |
| Employment rate | 73.9 | 2.4 | 76.7 | 2.3 | 79.5 | 2.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.8 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 1.2 |
| Hours of work | 36.2 | 1.1 | 38.0 | 1.2 | 39.2 | 1.3 |
| Labour force | 181,400 | 5,100 | 184,800 | 5,100 | 192,500 | 5,700 |
| Employed | 169,000 | 5,600 | 176,800 | 5,400 | 187,200 | 6,100 |
| Unemployed | 12,400 | 2,900 | 8,000 | 2,400 | 5,400 | 2,400 |
| Inactive | 47,500 | 5,100 | 45,800 | 5,100 | 43,000 | 5,700 |
| Est. population | 228,900 | • | 230,600 | • | 235,600 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Aug-15 | Sep-15 | Oct-15 | Nov-15 | Dec-15 | Jan-16 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 83.4 | 82.8 | 82.0 | 83.2 | 82.4 | 83.2 |
| Employment rate | 79.9 | 79.3 | 78.7 | 79.8 | 80.7 | 81.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 2.5 |
| Hours of work | 40.0 | 40.4 | 40.5 | 40.4 | 40.5 | 40.8 |
| Labour force | 192,500 | 190,500 | 190,300 | 194,400 | 190,900 | 196,100 |
| Employed | 184,300 | 182,300 | 182,600 | 186,600 | 186,900 | 191,200 |
| Unemployed | 8,200 | 8,200 | 7,700 | 7,800 | 4,000 | 4,900 |
| Inactive | 38,300 | 39,500 | 41,700 | 39,300 | 40,800 | 39,700 |
| Est. population | 230,800 | 230,000 | 232,000 | 233,700 | 231,700 | 235,900 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Aug-15 | Sep-15 | Oct-15 | Nov-15 | Dec-15 | Jan-16 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.5 | 82.5 | 82.6 | 82.7 | 82.7 | 82.8 |
| Employment rate | 79.4 | 79.4 | 79.6 | 79.8 | 80.0 | 80.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Hours of work | 40.2 | 40.3 | 40.4 | 40.4 | 40.5 | 40.5 |
| Labour force | 191,000 | 190,900 | 191,400 | 192,400 | 193,500 | 194,200 |
| Employed | 183,700 | 183,700 | 184,400 | 185,800 | 187,200 | 188,100 |
| Unemployed | 7,300 | 7,200 | 7,000 | 6,700 | 6,300 | 6,200 |
| Inactive | 40,400 | 40,400 | 40,300 | 40,300 | 40,400 | 40,400 |
| Est. population | 231,400 | 231,300 | 231,700 | 232,700 | 233,900 | 234,600 |