The main results of the labour market survey of Statistics Iceland for the second quarter of 2026 show that an average of 237,700 people aged 16 to 74 were in the labour force. Of these, 222,300 were employed, and 15,400 were unemployed and actively seeking work. The activity rate was 81.1%, the employment rate was 75.8%, and the unemployment rate was 6.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74.
In the second quarter of 2026, 102,700 women were employed, or 72.4%, while 119,600 men were employed, or 79%. On average, 199,400 persons were at work in the reference week of the quarter, representing 89.7% of employed persons and 68% of the total population aged 16 to 74. The average number of total working hours per week was 35.6 hours among those who were at work in the reference week, 39.2 hours among those in full-time employment, and 22.3 hours for those in part-time employment.
Compared with the second quarter of 2025, the number of employed people decreased by 9,000, and the employment rate decreased by 4.3 percentage points. The number of employed women decreased by 5,700, while employed men decreased by 3,300. The employment rate of women decreased year on year by 5.1 percentage points, while the employment rate of men fell by 3.4 percentage points.
Of those employed in the second quarter of 2026, an estimated 173,500 were in full‑time employment, or 78%, while around 48,900 were in part‑time employment, or 21.9%. The number of people in full-time employment decreased by 3,800 compared with the second quarter of 2025, and their share of total employment rose by 1.4 percentage points. Among employed women, 65.4% were in full-time employment in the second quarter, compared with 83.4% of employed men. Of those in part-time employment, around 9,200 individuals were underemployed, accounting for 4.2% of total employment. In the same quarter of 2025, the underemployment rate was 3.3%, corresponding to approximately 7,700 individuals. The definition underemployed persons are those in part-time employment who both are able and willing to work more hours than they currently do.
Average usual hours
In the second quarter of 2026, the average usual hours worked were 38.1 hours per week. Usal hours worked refer to the number of hourse a person usually works in their main job during a typical working week. For comparison, the average usual hours worked was 37.8 hours in the second quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, women usually worked an average of 35 hours per week, while men usually worked 40.8 hours. In the same quarter of 2025, women usually worked an average of 34.4 hours and men 40.8 hours.
The unemployment rate was 6.5%
In the second quarter of 2026, an average of 15,400 persons were unemployed, or 6.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74. The unemployment rate measured at 6.8% among women and 6.1% among men. For comparison, around 8,400 persons were unemployed in the second quarter of 2025, their share of the labour force was lower than at present, at 3.5%. The unemployment rate among women was 3.4%, compared with 3.6% among men.
Within the age group 16 to 24, the unemployment rate was 17.3%, compared with 7.6% in the same quarter of 2025. In the age group 25 to 54 years, unemployment measured 4.9%, which is an increase of 1.7 percentage points from the second quarter of 2025. Among the oldest age group, 55 to 74 years, the unemployment rate was 2.2%, compared with 1.2% in the second quarter of the previous year.
Labour Force Survey results from 2021 onwards have been recalculated using a more precise method for classifying individuals labour market status, in line with the definitions of the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The update involves using additional information from the survey when assessing labour market participation and job search, including information on occasional work and job search methods. The change has minor impact on previously published results but results in a break in the time series between 2020 and 2021.