An unemployed individual is defined as currently being without work, fully available to the labour market and actively seeking employment.

Definitions:

• Unemployed are individuals between 16-66 years and are registered as unemployed in the Faroese unemployment system and/or the social services.
• Affected by unemployment: The number of people who have been unemployed for one or more days in a month.
• Full-time unemployment: Since not everyone is unemployed every day of a given month, all individuals affected by unemployment are converted to full-time unemployed. For example, two persons who have been unemployed for half a month each are counted as one full-time unemployed person.
• Unemployment rate: The full-time unemployment rate in % relative to the size of the labour force.
• Labour force is an international measurement which counts the number of residents aged 15-66 who are capable of work.

The annual figures from the labour force survey should be used for making international comparisons of unemployment.

Why is there a two-month lag in the unemployment figures?

Many delayed entries are filed after the end of the registered month. A two-month lag helps ensure accuracy in the statistics.

See also Unemployment.