Unemployment 7.5%
The number of persons in the labour force in the March 2012 was 177,400 which correspond to an activity rate of 79.4%. The number of employed persons was 164,100 and unemployed persons were 13,300. The employment rate was 73.4% and the unemployment rate was 7.5%. These numbers are similar to the numbers from the same month 2011. The number of employed persons then was 163,800, or 73.6%, and unemployed were 13.400, or 7.6%. The average actual working hours per week in March 2012 were 40.2 hours compared to 39.4 in 2011.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment 7.5%
Seasonally adjusted unemployment for the last 12 months shows a slight downward trend and shows that employment has been rather stable. The seasonally adjusted data shows that in March 2012 unemployed persons aged 16-74 amounted to 13.500 or 7.5% compared to 12,800 in February 2012 or 7.1%. The number of seasonally adjusted employed persons in March was 167,800 or 74.6% compared to 168,100 or 74.4% in February 2012. Seasonally adjusted average actual working hours in March 2012 were 40.2 hours per week compared to 40 in 2011.

Implementation
Since 2003 Statistics Iceland has conducted a continuous LFS with quarterly results and the total sample size is around 3,800 individuals in each quarter and the response rate between 80% and 85%. The sampling frame for each LFS is drawn from all Icelandic and foreign citizens in the National Registry who are 16–74 years of age and domiciled in Iceland. Every quarter is divided into 3 months and 13 weeks. Two months count for 4 weeks and one for five. March 2012 is five weeks, from 27th of February to 1st of April. The total sample size for March 2012 was 1,516 persons. When those who had passed away or those who were living abroad had been deducted from the sample the net sample was 1,470 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 1,237 which correspond to 84.1% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on activity rate is ±2.2%, unemployment rate is ±1.6% and working hours is ±1.1 hours.