Extensive recession in the local construction market will lead to at least 3,000 immigrant workers, who have been involved in construction work in Iceland, returning to their home countries this year, according to the Directorate of Labor.
Head of the directorate Gissur Pétursson said foreign-born workers who have applied for certificates that qualify them for unemployment benefits in their home countries this year have already reached the same number as in the entire year of 2007, Morgunbladid reports.
Unemployment in Iceland is currently only around one percent, with 1,700 individuals registered as unemployed, but the Central Bank of Iceland has predicted that unemployment will rise to 2.1 percent before the end of 2008. Pétursson said that scenario is too pessimistic.
