Signs of recovery continue to appear here and there in Iceland as the country continues to pull itself out of the economic crisis. Good news in the form of unemployment figures broke today, which stood at 7.6% total employment for June, which translates to an actual figure of 12,988 people. In May, unemployment was at 8.3%, which means that there were 886 fewer unemployed people going into June.

Unemployment amongst men is decreasing faster than amongst women, with men making up 776 of the figure of 886, meaning that only 111 fewer women were unemployed. In terms of percentages, unemployment stands at 7.7% for men and 7.3% for women, according to the Directorate of Labour.

The decrease in numbers on the unemployment list is proportionally more in rural areas than in the city, with 8.5% unemployment in the city compared to just 5.3% in the countryside. The highest unemployment rate is in Suðurnes, the peninsula in southwest Iceland, which is currently 11.9%. The northwest region sees June’s lowest unemployment rate, where the figure is 2.6%.

The Directorate of Labour says that unemployment figures usually improve in July over June, due to seasonal fluctuations. In July 2009, unemployment stood at 8%, whereas in June of the same year the figure was 8.1%. The Directorate expects the figure to drop further in July, estimating a rate somewhere in the range of 7.2–7.6%.

Source: mbl.is
Image: Jenny Downing

Labels: Kreppa, Unemployment