Labor-market indicators diverged across Finland, Poland and Iceland in July 2026. Iceland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3% from 5.0% in June, its highest level in four months, as the number of unemployed increased by 3,000 to 14,500. The male unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% from 3.4%, while the female rate was unchanged at 7.0%. Youth unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds fell to 6.4% from 12.0%. Iceland’s employment rate edged down to 73.8%, with employment falling by 600 to 216,700, while labor-force participation rose to 78.7% from 78.6%. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the rate was reported at 5.5% in July, compared with 3.9% in June. Finland’s unemployment rate rose to 9.9% in July from 9.3% a year earlier, though it was the lowest level since December 2025. Unemployment increased by 20,000 year-on-year to 289,000, employment was unchanged at 2.637 million and labor-force participation rose to 70.2% from 69.8%. Poland’s registered unemployment rate held at 5.8%, the lowest since December 2025, while the number of unemployed fell by 4.9 thousand to 906.4 thousand and reported vacancies rose to 46.6 thousand.