Iceland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 6.5% in November 2025 from 4.4% in the previous month.
This marked the highest reading since April 2021, as the number of unemployed persons increased by 5,700 from a month ago to 16,500.
By gender, the unemployment rate for men jumped to 6.2% from 3.2%, while the rate for women rose to 7.9% from 6%.
The youth unemployment rate, which measures job-seekers between 16 and 24 years old, grew sharply to 13.3% from 7.4% in the prior month.
Meanwhile, the employment rate decreased to 75.5% from 77.5%, with the number of employed persons dropping by 4,600 to 220,700.
The labor force participation rate remained largely unchanged at 81.1%.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate rose to 6.5% in November from 4.4% in the preceding period.