The main results from IS-LFS for the third quarter of 2021 show signs of improvement in the Icelandic labour market, with an increase in employment and decrease in unemployment.
In the third quarter of 2021, the activity rate for 16 to 74 years olds was 79.8%, which is an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the same quarter in 2020. The number of employed in the third quarter of 2021 was 203,100 and the employment rate was 76.6%. The employment rate for women was 73.3% and 79.7% for men. In the Capital region, the percentage of employed people was 77.9% and 74.3% outside the capital region.
From the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021, the number of employed persons increased by 8,300 and the employment rate of the total population increased by 2.2 percentage points. The number of employed women increased by 4,800 and the number of employed men by 3,600.
In comparison, 194,800 were employed in the third quarter of 2020 and the employment rate was 74.4%. The employment rate for women was 70.7% and 77.8% for employed men. In the Capital region employment rate was 75.1% and 73.2% outside the region.
Shorter working hours
In the third quarter of 2021, the average number of actual working hours per week was 37.8 hours for those who worked during the reference week, 34.0 hours for women and 40.7 hours for men. Compared with the third quarter of 2020 the average number of actual working hours was 39.4 hours, 35.6 hours for women and 42.3 for men. Total working hours per week are therefore significantly less than they were in the same quarter of 2020 and working hours for both women and men decreased by just over one and a half hour per week.
Employed persons worked on average 38.8 hours in a typical week in the third quarter of 2021 compared with 39.1 hours in the third quarter of 2020, regardless of whether they were at work in the reference week or not. Usual working hours identifies the most common weekly working schedule over a selected period of every employed person.
Unemployment 4%
The average number of persons in unemployment in the third quarter of 2021 was 8,500 persons, or 4.0% of the labour force 16 to 74 years old. The unemployment rate for women was 4.6% and for men 3.5%. At the same time, about 8,380 jobs were available in the Icelandic labour market according to Statistics Iceland’s job vacancy survey, or about 3.6% of jobs according to previously published figures. In comparison, 12,000 persons were unemployed in the third quarter of 2020 and the unemployment rate was 5.8%.
Within the age group 16 to 24 years, the unemployment rate was 4.1%, which is a significant decrease from the same quarter in 2020 when it was 8.7% or by 4.6 percentage points. Over the period, however, unemployment among 25 to 54 years olds decreased by 1.2 percentage points, from 5.4% to 4.2%. Unemployment also decreased among those aged 55 to 74 years, or by 1.4 percentage point, from 4.9% in the third quarter of 2020 to 3.5% in the third quarter of 2021.
Fewer inactive
In the third quarter of 2021, 53,400 persons were inactive or 20.2% of the population aged 16 to 74 years. Of women, 29,600, or 23.1%, were inactive and of men, 23,800 were inactive or 17.4%. In comparison, in the same quarter of 2020, 55,000 were inactive or 21.0% of the population. Of women, 31,800 were inactive, or 25.2%, and of men 23,200 or 17.1%.
The majority (17,500) of those inactive in the third quarter of 2021 regarded themselves as retired, or 32.7%. Disabled were 9,800 (27.6%), 9,800 were students (18.3%) and 3,500 individuals were ill or temporarily unable to work (6.6%). About 2,800 of those who were inactive considered themselves unemployed, or 5.3%. These individuals are not considered unemployed in the LFS as they do not meet the survey's definition of unemployment. However, the main status of inactive individuals is determined by how they define themselves. About 3,600 persons worked at home or were on maternity leave, or 6.8%, and about 1,500 persons, or 2.8%, defined their status in some other way.
More employees telework from home
In the third quarter of 2021, a total of 43.1% of employees aged 25 to 64 years worked remotely from home in their main job. Thereof, 9.3% were employees who usually worked from home while 33.8% sometimes worked from home. This is an increase from the previous year when 33.2% of employees worked to some extent remotely from home in their main job, 5.2% usually worked from home and 27.9% sometimes. Working remotely from home only applies to the main work of individuals and not to domestic work or other work at home.
Actual working hours for employees 25 to 64 years old in the third quarter of 2021 were 39.3 on average per week, 39.9 hours for employees who worked from home and 38.8 hours for those who never work from home. In comparison, employees aged 25 to 64 years worked on average 39.8 actual hours in the third quarter of 2020, those who worked at home worked 41.1 hours and those who never work at home 39.2 hours.
In the third quarter of 2021, employees worked on average 12.0 hours remotely from home or about 31.5% of their actual hours. In the third quarter of 2020, employees who worked part-time at home worked 14.0 hours on average, or 35.0% of the hours worked.
