Iceland unemployment rises to 5.5 percent in July

Iceland’s unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent in July, up from 3.2 percent a year earlier, according to Statistics Iceland’s latest labour market survey, mbl.is reported.

About 12,900 people were unemployed during the month, while nearly 221,900 were employed. The employment rate was 75.5 percent and the labour force participation rate was 79.8 percent.

Compared with July 2025, unemployment increased by 2.3 percentage points. The employment rate fell by 4.8 percentage points, while labour force participation declined by 3.1 percentage points.

Seasonally adjusted figures showed about 14,500 people unemployed in July, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent. That was an increase of 1.2 percentage points from June.

Over the same period, the seasonally adjusted employment rate fell by 0.9 percentage points to 73.8 percent. The participation rate edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 78.7 percent.