In February 2026, there were 17,000 unemployed individuals aged 16 to 74 according to seasonally adjusted results from Icelandic Labour force furvey. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.1%, the employment rate 75%, and the activity rate 80.8%. Seasonally adjusted unemployment increased by 0.4 percentage points between January and February, the employment rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points, and the activity rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points.
According to the unadjusted measurements, unemployment was 7.9% in February 2026. The number of unemployed individuals was around 18,400. The employment rate was 72.8%, corresponding to just under 213,300 people, and the activity rate was 79.1%, or about 231,700 individuals in the labour force. Compared with the same month in 2025, measured unemployment increased by 1.9 percentage points, the employment rate fell by 0.9 percentage points, and the activity rate rose by 0.6 percentage points.
Since November 2025, the response rate in the Labour force survey has notably increased, particularly among immigrants (aged 16 to 74), where the response rate has risen from around and above 17% on average over the past two years to nearly 41% in February 2026. This has led to changes in the underlying assumptions used in the processing of the survey. To adapt to these new conditions, the survey weights have been reassessed. The monthly results of the Labour force survey for January have therefore been recalculated using this new method.