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Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board
Special Data Dissemination Standard
(AS PROVIDED TO THE IMF BY THE RESPECTIVE COUNTRY)
 
Flag of Euro Area Euro Area
Labor market: Employment - National Accounts
Last Posted: Nov-8-2006
Last Updated: Nov-8-2006

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Unit C2 National Accounts-Production ,
European Statistical Data Support: http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/url/page/PGP_DS_SUPPORT,
Eurostat, Statistical Office of the European Communities,
Luxembourg L-2920

Dissemination Formats
Summary Methodology

Access National Summary Data Page

Cross-country comparisons: access the DSBB metadata query facility

The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness
Coverage characteristics

5.1.1 Statistical presentation

Estimates of employment in the European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). National accounts measure employment alongside other variables such as GDP, output, compensation of employees, etc. ESA95 (chapter 11) defines employment in line with International Labour Organisation criteria. Employment covers employees and the self-employed.

Employment can be measured in persons, in jobs, in full-time equivalents and in hours worked. Eurostat publishes quarterly persons estimates for the European Union and the euro area.

Two geographical scopes of employment can be considered: employment by units resident in the economic territory (called domestic scope) and employment of resident households (called national scope). Eurostat publishes both quarterly, including a breakdown by employee/self-employed. In addition, the domestic employment is also published with a breakdown by 6 industries.

The methodology used by Eurostat to estimate quarterly national accounts employment is the same as for the other variables of European quarterly national accounts like GDP, compensation of employees, etc.

More data on European quarterly national accounts are available on Eurostat's website ("Data" / "Economy and finance" / "National Accounts") at:
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/quart/quart_base.htm and
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/quart/quart_sm.htm 

Periodicity

4.1.1 Periodicity

Quarterly
Timeliness

4.1.2 Timeliness

75 days for domestic employment and 105 for national employment

According to the ESA95 regulation and amendments to this regulation, Member States have to transmit quarterly data to Eurostat within 70 days after the end of the reference quarter. National data are published immediately after their reception from Member States. Coverage is usually not complete within the delays stated, but increases with subsequent releases.

Access by the Public
Advance dissemination of
release calendar

5.1.3 Advance release calendar

The precise date of data release is disseminated on the website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat. An Advance Release Calendar is also available on the Euro Area page of the DSBB.

National data are published by the National Statistical Institutes (NSI) following national dissemination calendars. Please consult NSI's websites to get national dissemination calendar. Links are given on the Eurostat website. National data are published by Eurostat immediately after their reception.

Simultaneous release to all
interested parties

5.1.4 Simultaneous release

Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website.
Integrity
Dissemination of terms and
conditions under which
official statistics are
produced, including those
relating to the confidentiality
of individually identifiable
information

0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics

Rules on statistical compilation

National Accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 1995) adopted in the form of a Council Regulation dated 25 June 1996, N° 2223/96 and originally published in the Official Journal L310 of the 30/11/1996.

Identification of internal
government access to data
before release

1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release

National Accounts data are forwarded routinely to the European Central Bank. Part of the data may be circulated within the European institutions, especially the European Commission and the European Central Bank ahead of official release.
Identification of ministerial
commentary on the occasion of
statistical releases

1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products

There are no official comments from Eurostat at the time of the release of the European aggregates. Eurostat itself does not provide other comment than the text of the news release, if any.

Comments may or may not be made by the European Commission or European Union Member States.

For information on any comment possibly made by the Commission, please refer to http://europa.eu/press_room/. For further information on any comments possibly provided by National Statistical Institutes, National Central Banks or National Governments on their own data, please refer to their web sites (Links are given on the Eurostat website).

Provision of information
about revision and advance
notice of major changes in
methodology

4.3.1 Revision schedule

Starting from June 2006, Eurostat publishes a first quarterly estimate of (domestic) employment in national accounts 75 days after the end of the reference period (‘t+75 days’). There is a second estimate after t+105 days, published together with the second regular GDP release. There is no specific employment News Release at t+105 days; the employment figures are presented in an additional new table in the GDP News Release. As compared to the first employment estimate, the second one is based on more information and will include breakdowns by economic activity (6 NACE categories) and by labour status (employee/self-employed).

In the t+105 days release, a first estimate of quarterly national employment is released too.

Euro area and EU employment figures for earlier quarters are revised in both first and second employment estimates. Quarterly National Accounts data are subject to continuous revisions. This is particularly true for the European aggregates, for which revisions to national data are superimposed on each other. Data are also subject to revision when annual data are published, in order to ensure consistency between quarterly and national figures. For Quarterly National Accounts estimates, major causes of revisions are:

·  Revisions in annual accounts.

·  Revisions of raw basic statistics used by member states in compiling quarterly accounts.

·  Revisions in methods of seasonal adjustment.

·  Revisions of estimation model for the Euro-zone and the European Union.

1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques.

Major changes in methodology will usually be the result of legislation, and therefore announced in the Official Journal of the European Communities and other publications.
Quality
Dissemination of
documentation on methodology
and sources used in preparing
statistics

5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques

Eurostat decisions and guidelines are explained in the ESA95 or the Handbook of Quarterly National Accounts. For ESA95, see the link given above under “Rules on statistical compilation”. The Handbook may be obtained in pdf format from the Eurostat web site or following this direct link.

5.2.2 Disseminated level of detail

Metadata are also available on Eurostat website at:
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/quart/quart_base.htm and
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/quart/quart_sm.htm 



(See also summary methodology)
Dissemination of component
detail, reconciliations with
related data, and statistical
frameworks that support
statistical cross-checks
and provide assurance of
reasonableness

4.2.1 Internal consistency

Quarterly national accounts may be checked against the corresponding annual series, which are also available from Eurostat’s website in the main aggregates, breakdowns and auxiliary indicators domains. In addition, the annual series may offer more details, as for instance more detailed industry breakdowns, and some series may only be available on annual level. Note however, that for flow series, the sum of quarters usually compares to the annual value, whereas for stock series usually the average compares to the annual value.

Most of the national data used in the calculation of euro area and European Union aggregates have originally been published by the National Statistical Institutes (NSI). These data may also be used for cross-checking. Most are disseminated via the NSI's websites.

Forecasts (usually three quarters ahead) for European GDP are provided by the Commission’s General Directorate Economy and Finance (ECFIN). These are published in a separate news release the same day as quarterly GDP releases.

4.2.3 Intersectoral and cross-domain consistency

In certain cases, data from other domains of economic statistics, i.e. balance of payments statistics, industrial statistics, household budget statistics or external trade statistics can be used for cross-checking purposes.
 
Footnotes
Last posted: Date IMF staff last posted an update to these metadata on the DSBB.
Last certified: Date subscriber last officially certified the accuracy of these metadata.
Last updated: Date subscriber last submitted an update of these metadata to the IMF.

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