Stable employment

From 2021 a new questionnaire in addition to several other changes may lead to breaks in time series in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Preliminary break estimates for the main indicators in the LFS are presented here. With more data from the new survey, both monthly and quarterly, the break estimates may eventually improve. There will therefore be more calculations of the breaks in the time series and revisions of the breach estimates during 2021.

Break estimates

The preliminary break estimate for the number of employed persons is 5 000, i.e. the new LFS show 5 000 more employed persons than the old LFS would have shown. The preliminary break estimate for the number of unemployed persons is 8 000. For persons in the labour force, therefore, the preliminary break estimate is 13 000. Regarding the population of the survey, there is a break of -27 000 persons – the most important change being that persons living in collective households are no longer in the LFS scope. The break estimate of the number of persons outside the labour force is -40 000; this is the residual of the break estimate of the number of people in the labour force (13 000) and of the population (-27 000). All the above-mentioned break estimates are calculated for persons aged 15-74.

Tables: Preliminary break estimates from the LFS (Download, Excel)