Iceland's unemployment rate declined from last year in the first quarter, data released by Statistics Iceland showed Tuesday.
The unemployment rate decreased to 5.8 percent in the first quarter from 7.2 percent in the same period a year earlier. The number of unemployed persons decreased to around 10,300 from 12,700 at the end of March 2012.
Meanwhile, the employment rate increased to 74.3 percent in the three months ended March from 73.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012.
There were around 167,900 persons in employment at the end of the three-month period, higher than 163,800 seen last year.
Separately, the statistical office said Iceland's trade surplus increased to ISK25.64 billion in the first quarter from ISK18.18 billion in the same quarter of 2012. Export of goods dropped 0.4 percent annually, while imports fell by 5.8 percent.
In another report, agency said that Iceland's producer price index fell 4.4 percent on an annual basis in March, significantly slower than the 0.4 percent decrease seen in February. Month-on-month, output prices decreased at a slower rate of 1.4 percent than 2.8 percent in the previous month.
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