According to seasonally adjusted figures from the Icelandic Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate was 4.6% in March 2022. The seasonally adjusted activity rate was 79.7% and the seasonally adjusted employment rate 76.0%. The seasonally adjusted activity rate decreased by 2.3 percentage points from February 2022. Seasonally adjusted employment rate decreased by 2.4 percentage points and seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage points. The seasonally adjusted trend of unemployment has decreased by 0.5 percentage points over the past six months while the trend of the employment rate has increased by 1.2 percentage points.
Based on unadjusted measures from the Labour Force Survey, there were 211,300 (±7,700) individuals of the age of 16-74 years old active on the labour market in March 2022, which is equivalent to 78.7% (±2.9) activity rate. Of the labour force, 201,400 (±5,200) were employed and 9,900 (±2,900) unemployed and looking for work. The employment rate was estimated to be 75.0% (±2.6) and the unemployment rate 4.7% (±1.4).
Compared with March 2020 the unemployment rate has decreased by 3.5 percentage points between years. At the same time the employment rate has increased by 4.2 percentage points and the activity rate by 1.7 percentage points. Employed persons worked 35.2 (±1.2) hours on average per week in March 2022 which is 2.4 hours less than in March 2021.
It is estimated that 27,200 individuals had an unmet need for employment (labour market slack) in March 2022, which corresponds to 12.3% of the labour force and potential labour force. Of those, 36.7% were unemployed, 20.5% willing to work but not looking, 14.7% in search of a job but not ready to work and 28.0% underemployed (working part-time and wanting to work more). The labour market slack has decreased compared withto March 2021, or by 5.1 percentage points. The seasonally adjusted trend of labour market slack has decreased by 1.8 percentage points over the past six months.
Please note that the sum of sub-items might be inconsistent with the overall results due to rounding.
About the data
The Icelandic Labour Force Survey for March 2022 covers five weeks, from 31 February through 3 April 2022. The sample consisted of 1,920 individuals, 16-74 years old with legal residence in Iceland. Excluding those from the sample who were living abroad or deceased, the net sample consisted of 1,891 individuals. Usable answers were obtained fom 1,146 individuals which corresponds to a 60.6% response rate.