There were 208,600 persons aged from 16 to 74 in the labour force in August 2018, according to the Icelandic Labour Force Survey. Thereof, 203,400 persons were employed and 5,200 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 82.4%, employment rate was 80.4% and unemployment rate was 2.5%.
Comparison between August 2017 and 2018 shows that while the labour force increased by 7,900, the activity rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points. The same can be said about the number of people in employment. Their number increased by 7,600 while the share of people employed of the estimated population decreased by 0.4 percentage points. The number of unemployed has increased by 400, since August 2017 when it was 4,800. Those who were considered inactive in August 2018 were 44,500 compared with 41,600 persons in August 2017.
Flow Chart — Labour force 16–74 years — August 2018
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.7% in August 2018
Changes in the Icelandic labour market display a seasonal pattern as can be seen in the figures below. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of people in the labour force was 206,100 in August 2018. This corresponds to an 81.8% activity rate which is the same as it was in July. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed persons in August 2018 was estimated to be 5,500 or 2.7%. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 79.6% in August 2018, which is a 0.7 percentage point increase since July.
As the charts below show, the trend of recent year is nearly unchanged although there are some fluctuations in the measurement of labor.
About the data
August 2018 is divided into five weeks, from 3rd of August to 2nd of September. The total sample size for the Labour Force Survey was 1,924 persons, 16–74 years old, selected randomly from the registered population. When individuals out of scope had been removed from the sample, the net sample was 1,867 persons. In total, the number of answers was 1,215 corresponding to 65.1% response rate.
The results are weighted by sex and age groups. The confidence limit of the estimates on activity rate is ±2.0 percentage points, employment rate ±2.2 percentage points and unemployment rate ±1.0 percentage point, for August 2018. Figures may not add up because of rounding. It should be noted that 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 July — Original | ||||||
| CI | CI | CI | ||||
| 2016 | (±95%) | 2017 | (±95%) | 2018 | (±95%) | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 85.3 | 2,3 | 82.8 | 2,2 | 82.4 | 2 |
| Employment rate | 82.9 | 2,5 | 80.8 | 2,4 | 80.4 | 2,2 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.9 | 1,3 | 2.4 | 1,2 | 2.5 | 1 |
| Hours of work | 40.3 | 1,4 | 40.4 | 1,4 | 41.9 | 1,2 |
| Labour force | 201,500 | 5,500 | 200,700 | 5,500 | 208,600 | 5,100 |
| Employed | 195,700 | 6,000 | 195,800 | 5,900 | 203,400 | 5,500 |
| Unemployed | 5,800 | 2,600 | 4,800 | 2,500 | 5,200 | 2,100 |
| Inactive | 34,600 | 5,500 | 41,600 | 5,500 | 44,500 | 5,100 |
| Est. population | 236,200 | • | 242,300 | • | 253,100 | • |
| Table 2. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment | ||||||
| Mar-18 | Apr-18 | May-18 | Jun-18 | Jul-18 | Aug-18 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.2 | 82.4 | 81.0 | 80.9 | 81.8 | 81.8 |
| Employment rate | 80.3 | 79.3 | 79.7 | 78.1 | 78.8 | 79.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.2 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 2.7 |
| Hours of work | 39.9 | 40.0 | 39.3 | 39.6 | 39.9 | 40.4 |
| Labour force | 204,700 | 203,100 | 201,100 | 201,300 | 206,300 | 206,100 |
| Employed | 200,100 | 195,600 | 197,700 | 194,400 | 198,700 | 200,500 |
| Unemployed | 4,500 | 7,600 | 3,300 | 6,900 | 7,600 | 5,500 |
| Inactive | 44,400 | 43,500 | 47,000 | 47,600 | 45,800 | 46,000 |
| Est. population | 249,100 | 246,600 | 248,100 | 248,900 | 252,100 | 252,000 |
| Table 3. Labour market last 6 months — seasonal adjustment trend | ||||||
| Mar-18 | Apr-18 | May-18 | Jun-18 | Jul-18 | Aug-18 | |
| Total 16–74 years | ||||||
| Activity rate | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 |
| Employment rate | 79.6 | 79.6 | 79.6 | 79.5 | 79.5 | 79.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Hours of work | 39.9 | 39.9 | 39.8 | 39.7 | 39.8 | 39.9 |
| Labour force | 202,800 | 203,000 | 203,100 | 203,300 | 203,600 | 204,000 |
| Employed | 196,700 | 197,000 | 197,200 | 197,400 | 197,700 | 198,200 |
| Unemployed | 6,100 | 6,000 | 5,900 | 5,900 | 5,900 | 5,900 |
| Inactive | 44,500 | 44,600 | 44,700 | 44,900 | 45,000 | 45,100 |
| Est. population | 247,200 | 247,600 | 247,900 | 248,200 | 248,600 | 249,100 |