News
Wednesday - 19 October 2011
No. 189/2011
Labour market statistics, 3rd quarter 2011
Unemployment rate 5.9%
In the 3rd quarter of 2011, 10,700 persons were unemployed and in search of a job or 5.9% of the labour force. The unemployment rate was 5.6% for men and 6.2% for women. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 1.000 since the 3rd quarter of 2010.
The unemployment rate was highest among persons aged 16-24 years old, or 9.5%. The rate was 5.1% for 24-54 years old and 5% for ages 55-74. The unemployment rate in the capital region was 7% and 3.7% in other regions.
Long-term unemployment increases
Of those who are unemployed in the 3rd quarter of 2011, 1,600 had been unemployed for 1-2 months or 14.9% of all unemployed compared with 2,000(16.8%) in 3rd quarter of 2010.
In the 3rd quarter of 2011, the number of long-term unemployed (12 months or longer) was 3,100 or 29.1% of persons unemployed. The number has increased from 400 persons from 2.700 or 23.1% in the 3rd quarter of 2010. When looking at the year 2011 long-term unemployment has decreased.
Of those who are in the labour force in the 3rd quarter of 2011, 0.9% had been unemployed 1-2 months compared to 1.1% in 2010. Long-term unemployed were 1.7% of the labour force in the 3rd quarter 2011 compared to 1.5% in 2010.
Persons are classified as unemployed who have no employment, are actively seeking a job and could start working within two weeks or have found a job which starts within 3 months. Students who are not employed and fulfil this criteria are considered unemployed.
The activity rate was 81%
The number of employed persons in the 3rd quarter of 2011 was 171.800 and had increased by 1.600 since the 3rd quarter of 2010. The number of persons in the labour force was 182,500, which corresponds to an activity rate of 81%. The activity rate for men was 84.4% and 77.6% for women. The labour force includes people of working age who are either employed or unemployed. People are classified as working (employed) if they worked one hour or more in the reference week or were absent from work they usually carry out.
In the 3rd quarter of 2010 the number of persons in the labour force was 181,900 and the activity rate was 81.4%. The activity rate of men was 84.1% and the activity rate of women was 78.6%.
| Labour market in 3rd quarter | |||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | ||
| 3. Q | 3. Q | 3. Q | 3. Q | Conf.Int. ± | |
| Activity rate | 83.7 | 82.1 | 81.4 | 81.0 | 1.2 |
| Employment rate | 81.6 | 77.1 | 76.1 | 76.3 | 1.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 0.9 |
| Labour force, est. number | 188,500 | 182,600 | 181,900 | 182,500 | 2,700 |
| Employed, est. number | 183,800 | 171,600 | 170,200 | 171,800 | 3,000 |
| Unemployed, est. number | 4,800 | 11,000 | 11,700 | 10,700 | 1,700 |
| Employed full time, est. number | 152,000 | 134,700 | 131,000 | 134,500 | 2,600 |
| Employed part time, est. number | 31,800 | 36,900 | 39,100 | 37,300 | 2,600 |
| Working hours | 43.6 | 40.9 | 40.4 | 41.3 | 0.7 |
| Working hours full time | 47.1 | 45.3 | 45.5 | 45.7 | 0.8 |
| Working hours part time | 25.4 | 23.9 | 23.8 | 24.5 | 1.1 |
| Inactive, est. number | 36,700 | 39,900 | 41,700 | 42,700 | 2,700 |
| Population , est. number | 225,200 | 222,500 | 223,600 | 225,200 | • |
| Figures may not add up because of rounding. | |||||
Implementation of the Labour Force Survey
Since 2003 Statistics Iceland has conducted a continuous labour force survey with quarterly results. The 3rd quarter of 2011 covers 13 weeks, from 4th of July to 2nd of October. The total sample size was 3,883 persons aged 16–74 years old selected randomly from the National registry. When those who had passed away or those who were living abroad had been deducted from the sample the net sample was 3,826 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 3,209 which correspond to 83.9% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on activity rate is ±1.2%, unemployment rate is ±0.9% and working hours is ±0.7 hours.
Labour market statistics, 3rd quarter 2011 - Statistical Series
Statistics