5.1.1 Statistical presentation

The main source for the employment and unemployment statistics is the European Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). This survey is a quarterly household sample survey carried out in the Member States of the European Union, Candidate Countries and EFTA countries (except Lichtenstein). Prior to 1998 the survey was carried out annually in the spring.

The survey's target population are all persons in private households aged 15 years or older.

The survey results refer to one reference week in the quarter. The survey is designed so that the sample is spread uniformly and randomly over all the weeks of the quarter.

During a transition period ending in 2005 some Member States apply the survey only in the spring or do not cover all weeks of the quarter.

The definitions of employment and unemployment, as well as other survey characteristics follow the definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In addition, harmonisation is achieved through adherence of the Member States to common principles of questionnaire construction, unemployment definition and common definitions of main variables and reply categories.

The data are not seasonally adjusted.

Metadata in SDDS format are also available on Eurostat website at:
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/employ/employ_lfsi_base.htm and
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/employ/employ_une_lfsi_sm.htm and
arability.htm href="http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/employment/info/data/eu_lfs/f_lfs_comparability.htm"> http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/employment/info/data/eu_lfs/f_lfs_comparabil
ity.htm

4.1.1 Periodicity

4.1.2 Timeliness

Monthly data on seasonally adjusted unemployment rates are published approximately 34 days after the end of the month. Quarterly micro files are delivered to Eurostat 12 weeks after the end of the quarter. These data are available on the Eurostat’s website immediately after being validated. Annual averages are published in the summer of the year after the reference year.

5.1.3 Advance release calendar

For monthly unemployment data - the precise date of data release is disseminated on the Eurostat’s website.

See also the Advance Release Calendar on the euro area data page on the DSBB.

5.1.4 Simultaneous release

0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics

Eurostat

Rules on statistical compilation

Council Regulation (EC) N° 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics (OJ N° L 52/1) sets the rules for General provisions, the Community statistical program and its implementation, Principles, Dissemination, Statistical confidentiality and Final provisions.

Labor market: Unemployment

Rules on statistical compilation

The European Union Labour Force Survey is governed by legislative acts of the Council and Parliament, as well as the Commission for implementation. The principal legislation is the Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community (OJ No L 77/3). This is the main regulation with provisions on design, survey characteristics and decision making processes. (See a list of LFS Regulations)

0.1.3 Confidentiality of individual reporters' data

Eurostat

1.1.1 Impartiality of statistics

Rules on statistical compilation

The European Union Labour Force Survey is governed by legislative acts of the Council and Parliament, as well as the Commission for implementation. The principal legislation is the Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community (OJ No L 77/3). This is the main regulation with provisions on design, survey characteristics and decision making processes. (See a list of LFS Regulations)

1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release

1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products

4.3.1 Revision schedule

Revision policy

Every month new figures from the public employment offices' administrative registers or from the national LFS are added into the process and new estimates are calculated. This might cause a slight revision in the past figures due to the re-execution of the seasonal adjustment procedure. Whenever the new EU-LFS data become available, a revision in the past series takes place going back to the period from which the previous EU-LFS data were available.

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

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

For the summary of methodology of the EU LFS, consult this link.

For the detailed description of methods and concepts used as well as other documents related to the EU LFS, consult the webpage The EU Labour Force Survey.

5.2.2 Disseminated level of detail

Metadata in SDDS format are also available on Eurostat website at:
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/employ/employ_lfsi_base.htm and
http://europa.eu.int/estatref/info/sdds/en/employ/employ_une_lfsi_sm.htm and
arability.htm href="http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/employment/info/data/eu_lfs/f_lfs_comparability.htm"> http://forum.europa.eu.int/irc/dsis/employment/info/data/eu_lfs/f_lfs_comparabil
ity.htm

4.2.1 Internal consistency

The statistics on Employment and Unemployment are disseminated in the following data categories:

1. Main indicators

This section collects the main results related to the labour market. It is based on the EU LFS series adjusted in various ways according to the specificities of an indicator. In general, the LFS adjusted series is the result of correction of main breaks in series, estimation of missing values and reconciliations of the LFS data with other sources, mainly National Accounts and national statistics on monthly unemployment.

In particular, the section of Main Indicators consists of :

-    Employment growth – National Accounts & LFS breakdowns

-    Population, activity and inactivity indicators –LFS adjusted data (including also Average exit age and Population in jobless households)

-    Employment – LFS adjusted data

-    Unemployment – LFS adjusted data (including also Harmonised long-term unemployment)

-    Education and training – LFS adjusted data (covering Youth education attainment level, Lifelong learning and Early school leavers)

2. LFS – Quarterly survey results

This is the series of unadjusted results from the quarterly Labour Force Survey.

3. LFS – Regional series

The regional series is based on the unadjusted EU LFS results down to NUTS level 2. The series on NUTS level 3 is adjusted.

Annual and quarterly main results are also published in a more condensed form in “Statistics in Focus”, available on the web.

Comparability

Often questions are asked concerning the comparability between the monthly unemployment rates (or their quarterly and annual averages) and the direct results of the EU-LFS. Some of the differences are due to the different nature of the two data sets, but some of the differences occur just because the transition period that uses the most recent quarterly data is not yet completed:

·        The headline figures published in the monthly News Release are seasonally adjusted unemployment rates. This results in a natural difference from the EU-LFS seasonally non-adjusted data. In general, seasonally non-adjusted monthly data is consistent with the published EU-LFS data (with the condition that the EU-LFS is continuous covering all the weeks of the quarter);

·        In the monthly application, the idea is to keep the time series as comparable in time as possible. It means that possible breaks in the EU-LFS data due to changes in the definitions or in the filtering of the micro data have been adjusted: in 1991/1992 there was general definition precision; the gradual implementation of the ‘new’ unemployment definition following the Regulation (EC) 1897/2000 still leads to backwards revisions and also a general improvement in the micro data filtering of the EU-LFS data from 2001 onwards caused breaks and backwards adjustments. While the original EU-LFS data consists of the raw series as they have been recorded at each point of time, the same series have been adjusted when they have been used as benchmarks for the monthly harmonised time series;

·        Where pooled averages of the EU-LFS are/will be used either as a temporary or definitive solution, the monthly data naturally does not match the corresponding EU-LFS data unless correspondingly pooled;

·        A specific case is France where the two data sets are not consistent for two reasons. First, the EU-LFS for the monthly calculations is complemented with the DOM data (départements d’outre-mer) while the original EU-LFS data alone only covers “France Métropolitaine”. The second reason is the above mentioned pooling of the EU-LFS data; The second exception is Germany for which on a temporary basis (during 2005 and 2006), the complete monthly data comes from the national monthly survey which is independent from the EU-LFS;

·        In the cases where only the Spring quarters of the EU-LFS data is used, quarterly and annual averages over the monthly unemployment data naturally differ from the corresponding EU-LFS. This situation gradually improves when the complete results of the EU-LFS become available and are applied.

4.2.2 Temporal consistency

Time coverage

Data collection relating to all 25 Member States is mostly from 1999 or 2000. Data relating the former EU-15 are available from 1995. Data relating to the former EU-12 are available from 1987. Prior to that data are only available in electronic format from 1983.