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

The city council yesterday agreed to a motion to inject approximately 10 million krónur of funding into a programme designed to prepare young people for the world of work. Ten projects will receive support under the programme.

The projects will vary in nature, ranging from football lessons in public parks to teaching sport to children with special needs, an arts centre that will travel around Reykjavík, and architecture and city planning workshops for unemployed young people.

The grants are for people aged 35 and under. The aim is to motivate young people to create new jobs and to make for a better quality of life for citizens. The money is being targeted to provide new job opportunities, enrich city life, encourage innovation of services and to continue motivating young people.

In the winter, the city council approved a cash injection of 150 million krónur into employment programmes, 30 million of which was a fund for young people to form their own employment agency. This is the second time this year that the dispensation committee for projects in the interest of young people has given out support.

Applicants for funding were sought after under the advertising slogan Vertu með (roughly “get it/have it”), with applications closing on the 15th May. The next round of funding will be opened to applicants in August.

Source: mbl.is
Image: j lord

Labels: Unemployment

A nice piece of positive news broke today. The rate of registered unemployment in Iceland dropped to 9% in April, marking a 2.6% decrease on the previous month. In real terms, this translates to about 14,669 unemployed citizens, a decrease of 390. Who said this country was in the middle of a kreppa?

Men saw the greatest drop in unemployment rates, with around 374 fewer unemployed, whereas for women the figure for April stands at only 16. The drop is proportionally larger in rural areas than in Greater Reykjavík, where unemployment dropped by about 2% (184 people), in contrast with a rural decrease of about 4% (206 people).

The construction industry saw a real-term decrease of 217. It is evident that unemployment is still more prevalent in the capital area, where the figure stands at 9.7% compared to 7.8% in the countryside, a difference of 1.9%. The region with the highest unemployment rate (14.6%) is Suðurnes, a peninsula close to Reykjavík (mostly lava fields), whilst the least affected region is the Westfjords (3.7%).

For those of you lucky enough to understand Icelandic, more information on unemployment rates can be found in the original article. Hopefully these figures point to the first signs of a recovery, but we wouldn’t want to speak to soon.

Labels: Kreppa, Unemployment