There were 201,100 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in October 2017, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 193,800 persons were employed and 7,200 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 82%, employment rate was 79% and unemployment rate was 3.6%.
Comparison between October 2016 and 2017 shows that activity rate stayed the same. Even though number of people in employment increased by 4,900 the employment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points. The number of unemployed increased by 2,000 and the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 points. Those inactive were 44,300 compared with 42,600 persons in October 2016.
Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — October 2017
Figures may not add up because of rounding.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment 3.6% in October
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 203,200 in October 2017. This corresponds to an 82.8% activity rate which is 1.7 percentage points higher than in September 2017. The number of unemployed persons in October 2017 was estimated to be 7,300, an increase of 800 persons since September. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in October compared with 3.3% in September. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 79.8% in October and increased by 1.4 percentage points between months. The estimated number of inactive people decreased from 46,300 in September to 42,300 in October. The trend for seasonally adjusted data in the last six months shows that activity rate has decreased by 0.2 percentage points and employment rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points. There was, however, an increase in the unemployment rate by 0.5 percentage points.
Implementation
October 2017 is divided into four weeks, from 2nd to 29th of October. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,211 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 1,181 persons. In total, the number of answers was 787 which correspond to 66.6% response rate. The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.6 percentage points, employment rate ±2.8 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.6 percentage points, for October 2017. Figures may not add up because of rounding. All numbers for the first two months in every quarter of the year are preliminary until the end of the quarter.
| Table 1. Labour market in October — Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2015 | (±95%) | 2016 | (±95%) | 2017 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 80.7 | 2.3 | 82.0 | 2.5 | 82.0 | 2.6 |
| Employment rate | 77.7 | 2.4 | 79.8 | 2.6 | 79.0 | 2.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Hours of work | 40.9 | 1.2 | 40.2 | 1.3 | 40.1 | 1.3 |
| Labour force | 186,500 | 5,300 | 194,100 | 5,900 | 201,100 | 6,400 |
| Employed | 179,300 | 5,600 | 188,900 | 6,200 | 193,800 | 7,000 |
| Unemployed | 7,100 | 2,400 | 5,200 | 2,400 | 7,200 | 3,200 |
| Inactive | 44,500 | 5,300 | 42,600 | 5,900 | 44,300 | 6,400 |
| Est. population | 230,900 | • | 236,600 | • | 245,300 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| May-17 | Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | Oct-17 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 83.2 | 82.9 | 81.4 | 81.9 | 81.1 | 82.8 |
| Employment rate | 80.5 | 80.8 | 79.9 | 79.6 | 78.4 | 79.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| Hours of work | 40.3 | 39.9 | 39.3 | 39.6 | 39.4 | 39.9 |
| Labour force | 199,000 | 198,100 | 194,500 | 196,600 | 198,300 | 203,200 |
| Employed | 192,700 | 193,000 | 190,900 | 191,100 | 191,800 | 195,900 |
| Unemployed | 6,400 | 5,000 | 3,600 | 5,500 | 6,500 | 7,300 |
| Inactive | 40,200 | 40,800 | 44,300 | 43,500 | 46,300 | 42,300 |
| Est. population | 239,300 | 238,900 | 238,900 | 240,200 | 244,600 | 245,500 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| May-17 | Jun-17 | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Sep-17 | Oct-17 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 83.0 | 82.8 | 82.7 | 82.7 | 82.7 | 82.7 |
| Employment rate | 80.6 | 80.4 | 80.2 | 80.1 | 80.0 | 79.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.9 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| Hours of work | 40.0 | 39.9 | 39.7 | 39.7 | 39.6 | 39.6 |
| Labour force | 199,200 | 198,900 | 199,100 | 199,500 | 200,000 | 200,400 |
| Employed | 193,500 | 193,100 | 193,100 | 193,300 | 193,500 | 193,700 |
| Unemployed | 5,700 | 5,900 | 6,000 | 6,200 | 6,500 | 6,700 |
| Inactive | 40,900 | 41,400 | 41,600 | 41,800 | 41,900 | 41,800 |
| Est. population | 240,200 | 240,300 | 240,700 | 241,300 | 241,900 | 242,300 |