According to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey the number of persons in the labour force in July 2014 was 195,500. Of those in the labour force 189,200 persons were employed and 6,400 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 84.9%, the employment rate was 82.1% and the unemployment rate was 3.3%. Comparison between July 2013 and 2014 shows an increase by 0.9 percentage points in the activity rate and by 1.1 point in the employment rate. At the same time the unemployment rate has decreased by 0.4 points.
In July 2014 the unemployment rate of 16-24 years old was 4.6% compared to 3% amongst those who are 25 and older.
Figure 1. Labour force in July 2014
Figures in July do not add up because of rounding.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 4.4% in July 2014
The seasonally adjusted data shows that in July 2014 the number of people in the labour force was 187,200 or 82.2% activity rate. The number of unemployed persons amounted to 8,300 and decreased by 900 from June. The unemployment rate was 4.4 % in July compared to 5.2% in June. According to the seasonal adjustment the number of employed persons in July was 179,000 compared to 178,400 in June. According to the seasonal adjusted data unemployment rate between May and June decreased by 0.7 percentage points and employment rate increased by 0.4 points.
The trend lines for the seasonally adjusted data for the last six months still shows a slight decrease in unemployment and there is a slow increase in both number and rate of employment. There is also a decrease in number of people who are inactive.
Implementation
June 2014 is divided into four weeks, from 30th of June to 3rd of August. The total sample size was 1,524 persons, 16–74 years, randomly chosen from the Population Register. When those who had passed away or those who were living abroad had been deducted from the sample the net sample was 1,500 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 1,153 which corresponds to 76.9% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on activity rate is ±2 points, employment rate is ±2.1% and unemployment rate is ±1.1%. Figures may not add up because of rounding.
| Table 1. Labour market in July - Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2012 | (±95%) | 2013 | (±95%) | 2014 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 84.3 | 2,3 | 84.0 | 2,3 | 84.9 | 2 |
| Employment rate | 80.5 | 2,5 | 81.0 | 2,4 | 82.1 | 2,1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4 | 1,4 | 3.6 | 1,3 | 3.3 | 1,1 |
| Hours of work | 43.3 | 1,4 | 43.3 | 1,4 | 41.9 | 1,2 |
| Labour force | 188,400 | 5,100 | 191,100 | 5,100 | 195,500 | 4,500 |
| Employed | 180,100 | 5,500 | 184,100 | 5,500 | 189,200 | 4,900 |
| Unemployed | 8,400 | 2,600 | 6,900 | 2,500 | 6,400 | 2,200 |
| Inactive | 35,200 | 5,100 | 36,400 | 5,100 | 34,800 | 4,500 |
| Est. population | 223,600 | • | 227,400 | • | 230,400 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Feb-14 | Mar-14 | Apr-14 | May-14 | Jun-14 | Jul-14 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 80.1 | 81.1 | 80.0 | 82.5 | 82.5 | 82.2 |
| Employment rate | 76.6 | 76.5 | 75.9 | 78.5 | 78.2 | 78.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.4 |
| Hours of work | 39.7 | 39.9 | 40.0 | 39.7 | 40.0 | 39.5 |
| Labour force | 184,000 | 186,900 | 183,400 | 188,000 | 188,100 | 187,200 |
| Employed | 175,800 | 176,200 | 174,000 | 178,800 | 178,400 | 179,000 |
| Unemployed | 8,200 | 10,600 | 9,400 | 9,200 | 9,700 | 8,300 |
| Inactive | 45,600 | 43,500 | 45,700 | 39,800 | 39,900 | 40,500 |
| Est. population | 229,500 | 230,300 | 229,200 | 227,800 | 228,000 | 227,700 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Feb-14 | Mar-14 | Apr-14 | May-14 | Jun-14 | Jul-14 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 80.9 | 81.0 | 81.3 | 81.7 | 81.9 | 82.0 |
| Employment rate | 76.6 | 76.8 | 77.2 | 77.6 | 77.8 | 78.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 |
| Hours of work | 39.8 | 39.8 | 39.8 | 39.8 | 39.8 | 39.8 |
| Labour force | 185,100 | 185,400 | 186,100 | 187,100 | 188,000 | 188,600 |
| Employed | 175,400 | 175,700 | 176,500 | 177,700 | 178,600 | 179,200 |
| Unemployed | 9,800 | 9,700 | 9,500 | 9,400 | 9,400 | 9,300 |
| Inactive | 43,800 | 43,500 | 42,700 | 42,000 | 41,500 | 41,300 |
| Est. population | 229,000 | 228,900 | 228,800 | 229,000 | 229,500 | 229,900 |
Statistics