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Employment and unemployment in 3rd quarter 2007

Unemployment rate 2.1%
In the third quarter of 2007, 3,800 persons were unemployed and in search of a job or 2.1% of the labour force. The unemployment rate was 1.6% for men and 2.7% for women. The unemployment rate was highest amongst persons aged 16-24 years old, or 5.2%.

In the third quarter of 2006 the unemployment rate was 2.6%. Unemployment amongst men was 2.2% and 3.0% amongst women. The unemployment rate was highest amongst young people aged 16-24 years old, or 5.1%.

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.

 

42.5% of unemployed persons have searched for a job for less than a month and 24.7% have found a job that starts within 3 months
Of those who were unemployed in the third quarter of 2007, 1,000 had found a job that starts within 3 months, or 24.7% and 1,600 or 42.5% had searched for a job less than a month. Of those who were unemployed in the third quarter 300 or 8.6%, had searched longer than 6 months. 
 

Table 1.  Unemployed by duration of search for job
	3nd quarter 2004		3nd quarter 2005		3nd quarter 2006		3nd quarter 2007
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Unemployed	4,300	100.0	2,900	100.0	4,600	100.0	3,800	100.0
Already found work	500*	12.7*	500*	15.3*	1,400	30.4	1,000	24.7
Less than one month	1,700	40.1	1,200	40.5	1,900	40.5	1,600	42.5
1 - 2 months	1,000	22.8*	400*	12.6*	300*	6.9*	700*	19.0
3 - 5 months	300*	7.5*	300*	9.4*	300*	6.9*	200*	5.1*
6 months or more	700*	16.9	700	22.2*	700*	15.4*	300*	8.6*
Figures may not add up because of rounding
* relative standard error over 20%

The number of employed persons increased by 7,600 and the activity rate was 84.1%
The number of employed persons in the third quarter of 2007 was 180,900 and had increased by 7,600 since the same quarter one year earlier. The number of persons in the labour force was 184,700, which corresponds to activity rate of 84.1%. The activity rate of men was 88.2% and the activity rate of women was 79.6%. The labour force is considered to consist of employed and unemployed persons. 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.

The activity rate was 84.2% in the third quarter of 2006. The activity rate of men was 88.8% and the activity rate of women was 79.2%.

 

Employed persons work 43.1 hours per week
In the third quarter of 2007 the average number of working hours of those who were working in the reference week was 43.2 hours. Men worked 47.6 hours and women worked 37.4 hours on average. The average number of working hours of those who worked full-time was 47.1 hours per week. Men working full-time worked 49.5 hours on average and women 42.6 hours. The average number of hours of those working part-time was 26.2 hours per week. Men working part-time worked 23.9 hours and women 26.9 hours per week.

In the third quarter of 2006 the average working hours were 44.1 hours. Men worked 48.4 hours and women 38.2 hours on average. 
 

Table 2. Labour market
			3nd quarter
			2004	2005	2006	2007
Activity rate		Percentage	81.5	83.1	84.2	84.1
Unemployment rate		Percentage	2.6	1.8	2.6	2.1
Labour force		Estimated No.	162,300	167,000	177,900	184,700
	Employed	Estimated No.	158,000	164,000	173,300	180,900
	Unemployed	Estimated No.	4,300	2,900	4,600	3,800
Employed full time		Estimated No.	125,200	132,300	140,300	145,000
Employed part time		Estimated No.	32,800	31,700	33,000	35,800
Working hours		Hours	43.7	43.8	44.1	43.2
Working hours full time		Hours	48.2	48.0	47.8	47.1
Working hours part time		Hours	26.5	24.8	26.7	26.2
Inactive		Estimated No.	36,800	34,000	33,500	35,000
Population		Estimated No.	199,100	201,000	211,400	219,800

Implementation of the Labour Force Survey
Since 2003 Statistics Iceland has conducted a continuous labour force survey with quarterly results. The third quarter of 2007 covers 13 weeks, from 2nd of July to 30th of September. The total sample size was 3,850 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 3,784 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 3,097 which corresponds to 81.9% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on unemployment rate is ± 0.6%.

Statistics