Arbeiðsloysi
29. okt 2020
Unemployment rate in August was 1,5%

The Faroese unemployment rate has come down to 1,5% after reaching 1.8% in the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic

The graph below shows the unemployment rate and the trend. The semi-transparent line represents the unemployment rate, and the solid line shows the trend.

In August, the unemployment rate was 1.5% (454 unemployed people). In August 2019, this rate was 1.1%.

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The next graph shows unemployment figures based on gender, with the semi-transparent lines showing the unemployment rates and the solid lines showing the trend for each gender.

In August, 1.3% of the male workforce and 1.9% of the female workforce were unemployed. In August 2019, these figures were 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.

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The map below shows the unemployment rates in each region. Most regions have rates between 1% and 2%. However, Suðuroy’s rate was 3.4% in August, having stood at 6.4% in July.

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In August, about half of the unemployed people had been out of work for less than three months, and just under 10% for more than a year.

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

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

About unemployment

An unemployed person is defined as someone without a job, fully available to the job market and actively seeking work, aged between 16 and 66 and registered as unemployed in the Faroese unemployment system and the social services in accordance with the above conditions.

Two categories are used in unemployment statistics: full-time unemployment and affected by unemployment.

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, a person who has been unemployed for half a month counts as 0.5 full-time unemployed.

Unemployment rate: The full-time unemployment rate relative to the size of the labour force.