According to preliminary break and seasonally adjusted figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the number of Are persons who worked for pay or profit for at least one hour in the reference week, or who were temporarily absent from their work, because of for instance holidays or sick leave. persons aged 15-74 increased by 14 000 from January (average of December-February) to April (average of March-May). The uncertainty associated to these figures are higher than normal because of the extra uncertainty introduced by the preliminary break estimates.
New break estimates
From 2021, the LFS has a new questionnaire in addition to several other changes in the sample which may lead to breaks in the time series. Preliminary break estimates for the main indicators in the LFS were presented in May. The break estimates improve with more monthly and quarterly data from the new survey, and new preliminary break estimates are therefore presented in this article. More calculations of the breaks in the time series will be presented during 2021 and revision of the breach estimates must be expected.
The revised preliminary break estimate for the number of employed persons for the 1st quarter of 2021 is 16 000, i.e. the new LFS show 16 000 more employed persons than the old LFS would have shown. The new preliminary break estimate for the number of Are persons without income-producing work, but who have tried to obtain this over the last four weeks and are available for employment in the reference week or within the next two weeks. persons is 6 000.
The preliminary break estimates on employed and unemployed persons are uncertain. The calculations are preliminary and revisions must be expected.