The unemployment rate keeps going down in Iceland, according to Statistics Iceland (SI). It was 2.9% in August, which is 0.8 points lower than in August 2015.
SI reports that the number of persons in Iceland’s labour force was 205,200 in August. Of those 199,200 persons were employed and 6,000 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 85.9%, and the employment rate was 83.3%.
Comparison between August 2015 and 2016 shows increase in activity by 1.6 percentage points of the total population.
The employment rate has increased by 0.4 points in the last six months and by 1.8 points in the last 12 months.
According to projections by The Central Bank of Iceland, published earlier this year, economic growth in 2016 will be 4.2%, unemployment and inflation will remain below target and purchasing power will continue to growth at a record pace.
A key driver for economic growth is the strong expansion of the tourism industry. The most recent projections (link in Icelandic) for the increase in tourism envisions 38.7% more foreign visitors in 2016 than 2015 and the forecast for 2017 is a growth of 26.6% from 2016.
This year 1.7 million visitors are expected and that number is anticipated to reach 2.2 million in 2017.
This growth is placing growing strains on the Icelandic labour market, as we have reported previously.
Read more: Immigration necessary for economic growth Business Iceland argues
Read more: Employment rate of immigrants highest in Iceland in the OECD
Around quarter of the 400 largest business in Iceland report they are facing a shortage of qualified workers. The demand is greatest in tourism and catering services, transportation and construction. Workers have been hired from abroad and the demand remains strong.
The unemployment rate keeps going down in Iceland, according to Statistics Iceland (SI). It was 2.9% in August, which is 0.8 points lower than in August 2015.
SI reports that the number of persons in Iceland’s labour force was 205,200 in August. Of those 199,200 persons were employed and 6,000 persons were unemployed. The activity rate was 85.9%, and the employment rate was 83.3%.
Comparison between August 2015 and 2016 shows increase in activity by 1.6 percentage points of the total population.
The employment rate has increased by 0.4 points in the last six months and by 1.8 points in the last 12 months.
According to projections by The Central Bank of Iceland, published earlier this year, economic growth in 2016 will be 4.2%, unemployment and inflation will remain below target and purchasing power will continue to growth at a record pace.
A key driver for economic growth is the strong expansion of the tourism industry. The most recent projections (link in Icelandic) for the increase in tourism envisions 38.7% more foreign visitors in 2016 than 2015 and the forecast for 2017 is a growth of 26.6% from 2016.
This year 1.7 million visitors are expected and that number is anticipated to reach 2.2 million in 2017.
This growth is placing growing strains on the Icelandic labour market, as we have reported previously.
Read more: Immigration necessary for economic growth Business Iceland argues
Read more: Employment rate of immigrants highest in Iceland in the OECD
Around quarter of the 400 largest business in Iceland report they are facing a shortage of qualified workers. The demand is greatest in tourism and catering services, transportation and construction. Workers have been hired from abroad and the demand remains strong.
