The main results of the labour market survey of Statistics Iceland for the third quarter of 2026 show that an average of 235,100 people aged 16 to 74 were in the labour force. Of these, 222,100 were employed, and 13,000 were unemployed and actively seeking work. The activity rate was 79.9%, the employment rate was 75.5%, and the unemployment rate was 5.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74.
In the third quarter of 2026, 100,900 women were employed, or 70.6%, while 121,200 men were employed, or 80%. On average, 181,700 persons were at work in the reference week of the quarter, representing 81.8% of employed persons and 61.7% of the total population aged 16 to 74. The average number of total working hours per week was 35.6 hours among those who were at work in the reference week, 38.8 hours among those in full-time employment, and 22.1 hours for those in part-time employment.
Compared with the third quarter of 2025, the number of employed people decreased by 8,400, and the employment rate decreased by 3.8 percentage points. The number of employed women decreased by 5,700, while employed men decreased by 2,700. The employment rate of women decreased year on year by 5.2 percentage points, while the employment rate of men fell by 2.7 percentage points.
Of those employed in the third quarter of 2026, an estimated 179,300 were in full‑time employment, or 80%, while around 41,500 were in part‑time employment, or 18.7%. The number of people in full-time employment decreased by 3,400 compared with the third quarter of 2025, and their share of total employment rose by 1.4 percentage points. Among employed women, 74% were in full-time employment in the third quarter, compared with 86.2% of employed men. Of those in part-time employment, around 8,700 individuals were underemployed, accounting for 3.9% of total employment. In the same quarter of 2025, the underemployment rate was 2.8%, corresponding to approximately 6,500 individuals. The definition underemployed persons are those in part-time employment who both are able and willing to work more hours than they currently do.
Average usual hours
In the third quarter of 2026, the average usual hours worked were 38.2 hours per week. Usal hours worked refer to the number of hourse a person usually works in their main job during a typical working week. For comparison, the average usual hours worked was 38.4 hours in the third quarter of 2025. In the third quarter of 2026, women usually worked an average of 35.5 hours per week, while men usually worked 40.4 hours. In the same quarter of 2025, men usually worked an average of 40.9 hours but usual hourse worked remained the same among women.
The unemployment rate was 5.5%
In the third quarter of 2026, an average of 13,000 persons were unemployed, or 5.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74. The unemployment rate measured at 5.3% among women and 5.7% among men. For comparison, around 9,300 persons were unemployed in the third quarter of 2025, their share of the labour force was lower than at present, at 3.9%. The unemployment rate among women was 3.3%, compared with 4.4% among men.
Within the age group 16 to 24, the unemployment rate was 9.1%, compared with 7.0% in the same quarter of 2025. In the age group 25 to 54 years, unemployment measured 5.8%, which is an increase of 1.9 percentage points from the third quarter of 2025. Among the oldest age group, 55 to 74 years, the unemployment rate was 1.6%, compared with 1.3% in the third quarter of the previous year.
Results from the Labour Force Survey from 2021 onwards have been recalculated using more precise methods for classifying individuals by labour market status and calculating working hours, in accordance with the definitions of the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The update makes use of additional information from the survey when assessing labour force participation and job search, including information on occasional work and methods of active job search. The calculation of working hours has also been updated, and the classification of full-time and part-time employment is now only based on respondents' own assessment. These changes affect previously published results and cause a break in the time series between 2020 and 2021.