According to seasonally adjusted figures from Statistics Iceland's labour market survey, were unemployed 7,400 in October, or 3.6% of the labour force, which is 0.1 percentage points lower than in September. Seasonally adjusted employment rate was 82.0%, which is 0.5 percentage points higher than in September, while seasonally adjusted employment rate was 78.3%.
Looking at the past six months, seasonally adjusted trends show that labour force participation figures have been fairly stable, although they have fallen slightly, or by 0.2 percentage points. The employment rate, however, seems to have slightly increased. Although still lower by 0.7 percentage points than half a year ago, the trend seems to have gone upward since August.
According to unadjusted measurements, it is estimated that around 209,500 people aged 16-74 years were on the labour market in October 2019. This corresponds to 81.2% (± 2.4) labour force participation. Of the workforce, 202,200 (± 5,800) were found to be employed and 7,400 (± 1,200) were unemployed and looking for work. The employment rate was 78.4% (±2.9) and the unemployment rate was 3.5% (± 1.2). Thus, unadjusted measurements indicate a stable employment rate although the number of employed persons has increased by 3,500.
Comparison of unadjusted measurements for October 2018 and 2019 also indicates that the labour force has increased by 4,800 people, although its share of the population has decreased by half a percentage point. In October 2019, more people were estimated to be outside the labour market, or 48,300 (± 3,000), an increase by aprx. 1,000 people from the year before. Finally, the unadjusted measurements indicate an increase in the unemployment rate by 0.6 percentage points from October last year. All counts are rounded to the nearest hundred.
Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — October 2019 unadjusted measures.
Figures may not add up because of rounding. CI (95%) Unemployment rate: Total ±2.8; males ±2.5; females ±2.6.
| Table 1. Labour market in October — unadjusted measures | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2017 | (±95%) | 2018 | (±95%) | 2019 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 81.9 | 2.6 | 81.2 | 2.3 | 81.3 | 2.4 |
| Employment rate | 78.9 | 2.8 | 78.9 | 2.5 | 78.4 | 2.9 |
| Unemployment rat | 3.7 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 1.2 |
| Hours of work | 40.1 | 1.3 | 39.6 | 1.1 | 40.4 | 1.0 |
| Labour force | 200,800 | 6,400 | 204,700 | 5,900 | 209,500 | 5,500 |
| Employed | 193,500 | 6,900 | 198,700 | 6,300 | 202,200 | 5,800 |
| Unemployed | 7,400 | 3,200 | 6,000 | 2,600 | 7,400 | 1,200 |
| Inactive | 44,500 | 6,400 | 47,300 | 5,900 | 48,300 | 3,000 |
| Est. population | 245,300 | • | 252,000 | • | 257,900 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| May-19 | Jun-19 | Jul-19 | Aug-19 | Sep-19 | Oct-19 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 80.5 | 81.4 | 81.2 | 80.0 | 81.5 | 82.0 |
| Employment rate | 76.7 | 78.7 | 78.7 | 76.9 | 77.6 | 78.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.8 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Hours of work | 39.5 | 39.0 | 38.9 | 39.6 | 40.7 | 40.5 |
| Labour force | 210,000 | 207,500 | 207,800 | 205,000 | 207,800 | 210,300 |
| Employed | 200,000 | 200,700 | 201,300 | 195,500 | 199,200 | 201,800 |
| Unemployed | 10,000 | 6,800 | 6,500 | 8,500 | 7,100 | 7,400 |
| Inactive | 50,700 | 47,500 | 48,100 | 52,300 | 49,500 | 47,100 |
| Est. population | 260,800 | 255,000 | 255,900 | 256,800 | 257,200 | 257,800 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| May-19 | Jun-19 | Jul-19 | Aug-19 | Sep-19 | Oct-19 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 81.5 | 81.4 | 81.4 | 80.3 | 80.7 | 81.3 |
| Employment rate | 78.8 | 78.7 | 78.6 | 77.3 | 77.4 | 78.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Hours of work | 39.4 | 39.3 | 39.2 | 39.9 | 39.7 | 40.2 |
| Labour force | 208,300 | 208,100 | 208,000 | 207,600 | 208,200 | 209,500 |
| Employed | 201,200 | 201,000 | 200,900 | 198,900 | 201,000 | 201,700 |
| Unemployed | 7,100 | 7,100 | 7,000 | 7,100 | 7,100 | 7,300 |
| Inactive | 47,200 | 47,400 | 47,600 | 49,800 | 48,400 | 48,000 |
| Est. population | 255,500 | 255,500 | 255,600 | 256,800 | 257,300 | 257,800 |
About the data
The labour market survey in October 2019 covers four weeks, from October 6th to November 2nd, 2019. A random sample of 1,528 persons aged 16–74 years who were domiciled in Iceland were randomly selected from the National Registry. Excluding those who were deceased, or who were resident abroad, the net sample was 1,501 individual. A total of usable answers were obtained from 943 individuals corresponding to 62.9% response rate.
Due to revisions of the production process of labor force survey the figures for July, August and September have not been temoporalyl disaggregated. Hence, these figures are preliminary until further notice.