According to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey the number of persons in the labour force in December 2015 was 188,500. Of those in the labour force 184,500 persons were employed and 3,600 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 81%, the employment rate was 79.4% and the unemployment rate was 1.9%. The unemployment rate has not been lower since November 2007 when the unemployment rate was 1.3%. Comparison between December 2014 and 2015 shows an increase both in activity and employment but decrease in unemployment. The activity rate increased by one percentage point or by 4.800 persons. The employment rate increased by 2.9 points or by 9.100 persons and the unemployment rate decreased by 2.4 points or by 4.300 persons.
Figure 1. Labour force December 2015
Figures July not add up because of rounding
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.3% in December 2015
The seasonally adjusted data shows that in December 2015 the number of people in the labour force was 190,400 which correspond to 82.4% activity rate, which is 0.8 points lower than it was in November. The employment rate was 80.5% and has increased by 0.9 points since November. The unemployment rate was 2.3% in December compared to 4.3% in November. The trend line for the last 12 months shows that the number of unemployed persons has decreased by 1,300 while the number of employed persons increased by 4,300.
Implementation
December 2015 is divided into four weeks, from 30th of November to 27th of December. The total sample size was 1,213 persons, 16–74 years, randomly chosen from the Population Register. When those who had passed away and those who were living abroad had been deducted from the sample the net sample was 1,188 persons. In total the number of usable answers was 891 which correspond to 75.1% response rate. All figures have been weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the results on activity rate is ±2.5 point, employment rate is ±2.6 points and unemployment rate is ±1 point. Figures may not add up because of rounding.
| Table 1. Labour market in October - Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2013 | (±95%) | 2014 | (±95%) | 2015 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 80.9 | 2.5 | 80.0 | 2.5 | 81.0 | 2.5 |
| Employment rate | 77.3 | 2.6 | 76.6 | 2.7 | 79.4 | 2.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1 |
| Hours of work | 37.3 | 1.4 | 36.9 | 1.4 | 37.7 | 1.3 |
| Labour force | 185,100 | 5,600 | 183,700 | 5,800 | 188,500 | 5,900 |
| Employed | 176,900 | 6,000 | 175,800 | 6,200 | 184,900 | 6,100 |
| Unemployed | 8,200 | 2,700 | 7,900 | 2,800 | 3,600 | 1,900 |
| Inactive | 43,800 | 5,600 | 45,900 | 5,800 | 44,200 | 5,900 |
| Est. population | 229,000 | • | 229,600 | • | 232,700 |
• |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Jul-15 | Aug-15 | Sep-15 | Oct-15 | Nov-15 | Dec-15 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 81.8 | 83.3 | 82.8 | 82.0 | 83.2 | 82.4 |
| Employment rate | 78.5 | 80.0 | 79.3 | 78.7 | 79.6 | 80.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 2.3 |
| Hours of work | 40.2 | 40.0 | 40.3 | 40.5 | 40.2 | 40.3 |
| Labour force | 189,200 | 192,000 | 190,300 | 190,400 | 194,700 | 190,400 |
| Employed | 181,400 | 184,200 | 182,300 | 182,700 | 186,300 | 186,100 |
| Unemployed | 7,800 | 7,700 | 8,000 | 7,800 | 8,400 | 4,300 |
| Inactive | 42,000 | 38,400 | 39,500 | 41,800 | 39,300 | 40,700 |
| Est. population | 231,200 | 230,300 | 229,800 | 232,200 | 234,000 | 231,100 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months - Seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Jul-15 | Aug-15 | Sep-15 | Oct-15 | Nov-15 | Dec-15 | |
| Total 16-74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.8 | 82.7 | 82.5 | 82.5 | 82.5 | 82.6 |
| Employment rate | 79.6 | 79.5 | 79.3 | 79.3 | 79.5 | 79.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Hours of work | 40.1 | 40.2 | 40.2 | 40.3 | 40.3 | 40.3 |
| Labour force | 191,100 | 190,800 | 190,800 | 191,100 | 191,900 | 192,500 |
| Employed | 183,600 | 183,400 | 183,400 | 183,900 | 184,800 | 185,600 |
| Unemployed | 7,500 | 7,500 | 7,400 | 7,300 | 7,100 | 6,900 |
| Inactive | 39,600 | 39,900 | 40,400 | 40,700 | 40,700 | 40,600 |
| Est. population | 230,700 | 230,800 | 231,100 | 231,800 | 232,600 | 233,100 |