There were 193,500 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in September 2017, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 187,700 persons were employed and 5,900 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 79.6%, employment rate was 77.2% and unemployment rate was 3%.
Comparison between September 2016 and 2017 shows that both the activity rate and employment rate decreased by 2.7 percentage points. The number of persons in the labour force decreased by 1,500 and the number of employed decreased by 1,600. Both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate stayed the same. Those inactive were 49,700 compared with 41,900 persons in September 2016.
Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — September 2017
Figures may not add up because of rounding.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment 3% in September
The changes in the Icelandic labour market display a certain pattern as regards seasonality, as can be seen in the figures below. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of people in the labour force was 197,600 in September 2017. This corresponds to an 81.4% activity rate which is 0.3 percentage points less than in August 2017. The number of unemployed persons in September 2017 was estimated to be 6,000, an increase of 1,000 persons since August. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3% in September compared with 2.6% in August. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 78.9% in September and decreased by 0.7 percentage points between months. The estimated number of inactive people increased from 43,800 in August to 45,100 in September. The trend for seasonally adjusted data in the last six months shows that activity rate has decreased by 0.6 percentage points and employment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points. There was, however, a slight increase in the unemployment rate or 0.1 percentage points.
Implementation
September 2017 is divided into four weeks, from 4th of September to 1st of October. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,225 persons, 16–74 years, selected randomly from the Population Register. When individuals out of scope had been removed from the sample, the net sample was 1,187 persons. In total, the number of answers was 806 which correspond to 67.9% response rate. The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.7 percentage points, employment rate ±2.8 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.3 percentage points, for September 2017. Figures may not add up because of rounding.
| Table 1. Labour market in September — Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2015 | (±95%) | 2016 | (±95%) | 2017 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 81.4 | 2.5 | 82.3 | 2.2 | 79.6 | 2.7 |
| Employment rate | 78.3 | 2.7 | 79.9 | 2.3 | 77.2 | 2.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
| Hours of work | 40.7 | 1.3 | 41.2 | 1.2 | 39.5 | 1.3 |
| Labour force | 187,900 | 5,800 | 195,000 | 5,100 | 193,500 | 6,600 |
| Employed | 180,800 | 6,200 | 189,300 | 5,400 | 187,700 | 7,000 |
| Unemployed | 7,100 | 2,800 | 5,800 | 2,200 | 5,900 | 2,700 |
| Inactive | 42,900 | 5,800 | 41,900 | 5,100 | 49,700 | 6,600 |
| Est. population | 230,800 | • | 237,000 | • | 243,200 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Apr-17 | May-17 | Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 83.6 | 82.9 | 82.5 | 81.4 | 81.7 | 81.4 |
| Employment rate | 81.7 | 80.3 | 80.5 | 79.8 | 79.6 | 78.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.3 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.0 |
| Hours of work | 40.4 | 40.2 | 39.9 | 39.3 | 39.5 | 39.3 |
| Labour force | 200,800 | 198,800 | 197,900 | 194,500 | 196,100 | 197,600 |
| Employed | 196,200 | 192,700 | 193,000 | 190,900 | 191,100 | 191,600 |
| Unemployed | 4,600 | 6,100 | 4,900 | 3,600 | 5,000 | 6,000 |
| Inactive | 39,400 | 41,100 | 41,900 | 44,500 | 43,800 | 45,100 |
| Est. population | 240,200 | 239,800 | 239,900 | 239,000 | 239,900 | 242,800 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Apr-17 | May-17 | Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 83.2 | 82.9 | 82.7 | 82.6 | 82.6 | 82.5 |
| Employment rate | 80.9 | 80.6 | 80.4 | 80.3 | 80.2 | 80.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Hours of work | 40.0 | 39.9 | 39.8 | 39.6 | 39.5 | 39.5 |
| Labour force | 200,100 | 199,100 | 198,400 | 198,300 | 198,300 | 198,300 |
| Employed | 194,500 | 193,500 | 192,800 | 192,600 | 192,600 | 192,600 |
| Unemployed | 5,500 | 5,600 | 5,600 | 5,700 | 5,700 | 5,700 |
| Inactive | 40,500 | 41,000 | 41,500 | 41,700 | 41,900 | 41,900 |
| Est. population | 240,500 | 240,100 | 239,900 | 240,000 | 240,100 | 240,200 |