Unemployment
25. Nov 2024
Unemployment at 0.8% in October
Unemployed people are registered as unemployed with the Faroese unemployment system or the social welfare services, fully available to the labour market and actively seeking work.
In October, the unemployment rate was 0.8%, equivalent to 255 full-time unemployed people. In October 2023, the rate was also 0.8%, with 256 full-time unemployed people.
[px-graph-1]
A full-time unemployed person is defined as one who is unemployed throughout a full month. If two persons are affected by unemployment for half a month each, they are converted to one full-time unemployed person for the month in question. In October, 305 people were affected by unemployment, a decrease of three compared with October 2023.
[px-graph-2]
Lower unemployment rate for women
There were 157 full-time unemployed men in October, equivalent to 1.0%. This is a year-on-year increase of 0.1 percentage point. The October 2024 unemployment rate for women was 0,7%, which is 0.1 percentage point lower than in October 2023. There were 98 full-time unemployed women in October, 13 fewer than in October 2023.
[px-graph-3]
Highest unemployment growth in Vágar
The map below shows unemployment rates by region. In October, the Norðoyar region had the lowest unemployment rate at 0.5%, which is the same as in October 2023. Suðuroy and Suðurstreymoy had the highest rate at 1%. The highest year-on-year unemployment growth was registered in Vágar, where the rate increased from 0.4% in October 2023 to 0.9% in October 2024.
More regional statistics on unemployment are found here: Norðoya region, Eysturoyar region, Norðstreymoyar region, Suðurstreymoyar region, Vága region, Sandoyar region, Suðuroyar region
[px-graph-4]
Unemployment falls in 16-24 age group
The lowest unemployment rate in October was registered in the 16-24 age group at 0.6%, up year-on-year by 0.2 percentage points. The highest rate (1.3%) was registered in the 25-34 age group, up 0.1% year-on-year.
[px-graph-5]
13% are long-term unemployed
The graph below shows how long people have been unemployed. In October, 40 people (13% of all unemployed people) were long-term unemployed, i.e. they had been out of work for more than a year. The number of long-term unemployed people increased by nine since October 2023. The largest group of unemployed people in October were those who have been out of work between one and three months.
[px-graph-6]
Unemployment as a concept
Statistics Faroe Islands and other statistics agencies across the world use the definitions of unemployment given by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which is a United Nations agency.
According to this definition, the unemployment rate reflects the proportion of the labour force that does not have a job, is available to the labour market and is actively looking for work.
In the monthly unemployment reports from Statistics Faroe Islands, unemployed people are defined as those who are registered as unemployed with the Faroese unemployment system and the social welfare services and who meet the above definition of unemployment.