Unemployment reached 9.3% in February, with predictions that it could peak in June.
The Central Bank believes unemployment will hit 10% in the middle of this year, and then decline again. Gissur Pétursson, the director of the Directorate of Labor, disagrees – RÚV reports that he believes the peak has already been reached.
At the same time, there has been movement in the labor market. Many in February went off of unemployment and found work, while others began to collect payments. The hardest hit fields have been construction and heavy industry.
Unemployment was at 9.9% in the capital area, and 8.2% in the country. Also of note: more men than women are unemployed in every area of the country except the east; there, they are evenly divided, at 220 each.