There were 204,700 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in November 2018, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 198,800 persons were employed (±5,700) and 5,900 persons were unemployed (±2,400). The activity rate was 81.0%, employment rate was 78.7% and unemployment rate was 2.9%.

Comparison between November 2017 and 2018 shows that the number of people in the labour force increased by 6,900 and the activity rate increased by 0.6 percentage points. The number of people in employment increased by 4,500, but the share of people employed of the estimated population decreased by 0.3 percentage points. The number of unemployed has increased by 2,400, compared to November 2017 when it was 3,500. Those who were considered inactive in November 2018 were 47,900 compared with 48,200 persons in November 2017.

Figures may not add up because of rounding. CI (95%) Unemployment rate: Total ±1.2; males ±1.9; females ±1.3.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 3.6% in November 2018
Changes in the Icelandic labour market display a seasonal pattern as can be seen in the figures below. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of people in the labour force was 208,400 in November 2018. This corresponds to an 82.4% activity rate which is 0.5 percentage points higher than in October. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed persons in November 2018 was estimated to be 7,400 or 3.6%, an increase by 0.5 percentage points. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 79.5% in November 2018, which is a 0.2 percentage points increase since October. In spite of some fluctuations in the measurement of labour, the trend of recent months and year is almost unchanged, as seen below.

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About the data
November 2018 is divided into five weeks, from 29th of October to 2nd of December. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,916 persons, 16–74 years old, selected randomly from the registered population. When individuals out of scope had been removed from the sample, the net sample was 1,872 persons. In total, the number of answers was 1,224 corresponding to 65.4% response rate.

The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.1 percentage points, employment rate ±2.3 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.2 percentage point, for November 2018. Figures may not add up because of rounding. Results for the first two months in every quarter of the year are preliminary until the end of the quarter.

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