REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98
Date: 2019-01-28
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU employment policy, EU statistics, European social policy, employment statistics, information processing, national implementing measure, sample survey, statistical method, unemployment, working population

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.1.2019  COM(2019) 14 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98    
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in 
the  Community1  sets  minimum  standards  for  the  harmonised  production  of  labour  force 
surveys in the European Union (EU) and its Member States. 

Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 577/98 states that: 

A report on the implementation of this Regulation shall be submitted by the  Commission to 
the  Parliament  and  the  Council  every  three  years,  beginning  in  the  year  2000.  This  report 
shall  evaluate  in  particular  the  quality  of  the  statistical  methods  envisaged  by  the  Member 
States to improve the results or to lighten the survey procedures. 

This report is the Commission’s seventh report to Parliament and the Council; it covers the 
period 2015-2017 and is structured as follows. 

  Section 2 gives an overview of the European Union Labour Force Survey and its role 

in supporting European Union policies. 

  Section 3 takes stock of how Regulation (EC) No 577/98 has been implemented in the 
Member  States,  candidate  countries,  and  European  Free  Trade  Association  (EFTA) 
countries. 

  Section 4 focuses on ongoing initiatives launched by the European Statistical System2 

(ESS) to improve the quality of the Labour Force Survey. 

2. 

OVERVIEW OF THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

2.1. 

General description 

The  European  Union  Labour  Force  Survey  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  EU-LFS)  is  a  large 
sample survey of residents in private households. It provides both quarterly and annual labour 
market statistics on employment and unemployment, as well as on people outside the labour 
force. It also collects multi-annual information from ad hoc modules, and provides input for 
model-based monthly estimates of unemployment and unemployment rates. 

The  National  Statistical  Institutes  (NSIs)  of  the  respective  countries  are  responsible  for: 
designing  national  questionnaires,  drawing  the  sample,  conducting  interviews,  and  sending 
results  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  in  accordance  with  a  common  coding  scheme  set  by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 377/20083. 

1 
2 

3 

OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3. 
According to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 
164),  the  ESS  is  the  partnership  between  the  European  statistical  authority  (which  is  the  European 
Commission (Eurostat)), the national statistical institutes, and other national authorities responsible in 
each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  377/2008  of  25 April  2008  implementing  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
No  577/98  on  the  organisation  of  a  labour  force  sample  survey  in  the  Community  as  regards  the 
codification  to  be  used  for  data  transmission  from  2009  onwards,  the  use  of  a  sub-sample  for  the 

1 

 
 
 
                                                           
Eurostat  is  in  charge  of:  monitoring  the  implementation  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  577/98; 
providing  assistance 
to  NSIs;  promoting  harmonised  concepts  and  methods;  and 
disseminating comparable national and European labour market statistics. 

In 2017, the EU-LFS sample size was around 1.3 million people (of which around 1.2 million 
were in the EU-28) aged 15-74 years. The samples were taken every quarter and covered 34 
participating countries4. This makes the EU-LFS the largest household survey in Europe. 

2.2. 

Relevance 

The  EU-LFS  is  the  largest  source  of  official  statistics  on  the  labour  markets  in  the  EU.  In 
total,  it  collects  more  than  100  variables  on  labour  status;  employment  characteristics; 
working time; educational background; and training. The EU-LFS is also complemented by 
thematic, yearly ad hoc modules5. 

Based on international standards and definitions6, the EU-LFS has relevance beyond the EU, 
allowing the European labour market  to  be compared with  labour markets  in  other areas or 
countries. 

Some key EU policy initiatives rely on EU-LFS data. For instance, the EU-LFS is one of the 
main data sources for monitoring Member States’ progress under the employment guidelines 
in  the  context  of:  (i)  Article 148  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union7 
(TFEU), and  (ii)  the  EU’s  ‘Europe  2020’  growth  strategy.  Three  EU-LFS  indicators  (the 
employment  rate  among  those  aged  20-64;  the  share  of  early  leavers  from  education  and 
training; and the number of 30-34 year olds that have completed tertiary education) are used 
to  monitor  2  of  the  5  Europe  2020  headline  targets8. Many  other  LFS-based  indicators  are 
used under the Europe 2020 Joint Assessment Framework. 

Several  indicators  provided  by  the  EU-LFS  are  also  used  to  monitor  Member  States’ 
performance under two dimensions of the European Pillar of Social Rights. These dimensions 
are Equal opportunities and access to the labour market (which covers education, skills and 
lifelong  learning;  gender  equality  in  the  labour  market;  and  youth)  and  Dynamic  labour 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

collection  of  data  on  structural  variables  and  the  definition  of  the  reference  quarters  (OJ  L  114, 
26.4.2008, p. 57). 
Participating  countries  are  the  28  Member  States,  Iceland,  Norway,  Switzerland,  Montenegro,  the 
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. 
In 2015, no ad hoc module was included in the EU-LFS. The ad-hoc module in 2016 was Young people 
on the labour market. The ad hoc module in 2017 was Self-employment. 
In  particular,  the  EU-LFS  follows  the  resolutions  and  recommendations  of  the  International 
Conferences  of  Labour  Statisticians  organised  by  the  International  Labour  Organisation,  see  
http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-
international-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/lang--en/index.htm  (available  only  in  English,  French 
and Spanish). 
See  Council Decision 2014/322/EU of 6 May 2014 on guidelines  for the employment policies of the 
Member States for 2014, (OJ L 165, 4.6.2014, p. 49). 
Europe 2020 headline targets: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Europe_2020_headline_indicators. 

2 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     
markets and fair working conditions (which covers labour force structure and labour market 
dynamics)9. 

In addition, a number of labour market indicators at the regional level form the EU-LFS (i.e. 
youth unemployment rate and total unemployment rate) are used for the purpose of allocating 
funds in the context of the Cohesion Policy. 

The  EU-LFS  also  provides  indicators  for  the  2030  Agenda  for  Sustainable  Development10. 
Three  of  the  goals  in  the  Agenda  for  Sustainable  Development  encompass  indicators 
stemming  from  the  EU-LFS:  quality  education,  gender  equality,  and  decent  work  and 
economic growth. 

The  EU-LFS-based  monthly  unemployment  rate  is  an  important  short-term  economic 
indicator. It is one of the Principal European Economic Indicators11, and is also used to build 
moving annual averages of unemployment rates for the scoreboard of economic and financial 
indicators.  This  scoreboard  is  in  turn  used  to  detect  macroeconomic  and  competitiveness 
imbalances12.  The  EU-LFS  provides  input  for  national  accounts  on  employment,  working 
time, and other areas beyond the labour market, such as education. 

EU-LFS  data  are  widely  used  by  the  Commission  DGs.  They  are  also  widely  used  by 
European  Agencies.  Eurofound  in  particular  uses  the  data  for  its  overview  report  on  the 
characteristics of the workforce in Europe. 

Finally,  the  EU-LFS  is  one  of  the  largest  sources  of  statistical  microdata  for  researchers  in 
Europe.  The  large  sample  allows  studies  to  be  carried  out  on  specific  groups  in  the  labour 
market.  The  EU-LFS  also  has  a  very  broad  coverage  of  demographic,  regional  and 
educational-background variables. 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

This  section  mainly  covers  the  period  2015-2017,  but  to  highlight  improvements  since  the 
previous  report,  information  on  the  2014  Labour  Force  Survey  is  also  presented  when 
relevant. 

3.1. 

Accuracy 

The accuracy of statistical outputs is the degree to which computations or estimates are close 
to the exact — or true — values that the statistics are intended to measure. The accuracy of 
the  estimates  is  subject  to  two  types  of  errors:  sampling  errors  and  non-sampling  errors. 

9 

10 
11 

12 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-pillar-of-social-rights/indicators  (available  only  in  English, 
French and German). 
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/sustainable-development-goals_en 
Principal  European  Economic 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-81-08-398 
English). 
The  MIP  Scoreboard  is  used  to  identify  emerging  or  persistent  macroeconomic  imbalances  in  a 
country. It is part of an annual procedure, where the first step is the compilation of an Alert Mechanism 
Report (AMR). See Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council (OJ L 
306, 23.11.2011, p. 25). 

statistical  guide,  Eurostat  2009, 
only 

Indicators  —  A 

(available 

see 
in 

3 

 
 
                                                           
Sampling  errors  occur  because  only  a  subset  of  the  whole  population  is  surveyed.  Non-
sampling errors are all other errors that are not the result of sampling (e.g. coverage errors, 
measurement errors, processing errors, non-response errors). 

For sampling errors, the size of the sample is the main determinant. Larger samples improve 
the  accuracy  of  the  results.  Table  1  shows  the  size  of  the  sample  of  persons  aged  15-74 
interviewed each quarter in each participating country, in absolute terms and compared with 
the total population of that age group. The sampling rate13 ranged in 2017 from 0.14 % (the 
United Kingdom) to 1.46 % (Luxembourg). On average, the quarterly sample size was about 
1.3 million people in 2017, which amounts to 0.29 % of the total population aged 15-74 in the 
34 countries taking part. 

Official  surveys  such  as  the  EU-LFS  use  probability  sampling.  This  makes  it  possible  to 
quantify sampling errors in terms of confidence intervals. Table 2 provides the estimates and 
95 %  confidence  intervals  reached  for  the  seven  main  indicators  on  employment  and 
unemployment at aggregated EU-28 level. 

These intervals reflect the precision requirements set in Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98. 

For  non-sampling  errors,  Eurostat  and  participating  countries  regularly  monitor  relevant 
sources  of  non-sampling  errors  like  non-response.  Participating  countries  report  the  main 
causes of errors to Eurostat on an annual basis, along with the methods applied nationally to 
reduce them. A summary of this monitoring is published in the annual quality report of the 
EU-LFS14. 

In  2017,  participation  in  the  EU-LFS  was  compulsory  in  14  countries  (Belgium,  Germany, 
Greece,  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Cyprus,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Austria,  Portugal,  Slovakia, 
Norway  and  Turkey)  and  voluntary  in  the  other  20  countries.  Countries  conducting  a 
voluntary survey generally have a higher unit non-response rate than countries conducting a 
compulsory survey15. 

13 

14 
15 

The  sampling  rate  is  defined  as  the  ratio  of  the  sample  size  (the  number  of  sampling  units  in  the 
sample) to the population size (the total number of sampling units in the target population). 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/publications/quality-reporting (available only in English). 
Unit  non-response  occurs  when  no  data  are  collected  about  a  population  unit  designated  for  data 
collection. The unit  non-response rate  is the ratio of the  number of units  for  which  no data  has been 
collected to the total number of units designated for data collection. 

4 

 
 
                                                           
Table 1: Achieved sample size and percentage of the population aged 15-74 (quarterly 
average) in the European Labour Force Survey, 2017 and 2014 

Quarterly 
sample 
size 
(thousand) 
2017 
1 162 
29 
25 
41 
21 
142 
5 
27 
45 
119 
94 
6 
105 
8 
8 
12 
7 
43 

Sampling 
rate  15-
74 (%) 
2017 
0.31 
0.35 
0.45 
0.50 
0.49 
0.23 
0.56 
0.77 
0.56 
0.34 
0.20 
0.20 
0.23 
1.22 
0.53 
0.57 
1.46 
0.58 

Country 
EU-28 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 

Sampling 
rate  15-
74 (%) 
2014 

0.32 
0.23 
0.45 
0.53 
0.59 
0.20 
0.49 
1.12 
0.55 
0.36 
0.19 
0.21 
0.24 
1.27 
0.56 
0.75 
0.65 
0.32 

Quarterly 
sample size 
(thousand) 
2017 
5 
75 
34 
58 
30 
47 
13 
18 
29 
51 
67 
3 
20 
28 
5 
11 
89 

Country 
MT 
NL 
AT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SI 
SK 
FI 
SE 
UK 
IS 
NO 
CH 
ME 
MK 
TR 
TOTAL  1 318 

Sampling 
rate  15-
74 (%) 
2017 
1.44 
0.59 
0.52 
0.21 
0.39 
0.31 
0.79 
0.41 
0.71 
0.68 
0.14 
1.08 
0.51 
0.43 
1.09 
0.65 
0.16 
0.29 

Sampling 
rate  15-
74 (%) 
2014 

1.54 
0.69 
0.54 
0.26 
0.38 
0.28 
0.76 
0.47 
0.77 
0.84 
0.16 
1.36 
0.50 
0.50 
- 
0.53 
0.17 
0.31 

Table  2:  95 %  confidence  interval  of  the  main  LFS  indicators  on  employment  and 
unemployment for the EU-28, 2017 

of 

Number 
employed 
persons (x1000) 

Employment 
a 
as 
rate 
percentage 
of 
the  population 
(%) 

of 

Number 
unemployed 
persons (x1000) 

Unemployment 
a 
as 
rate 
percentage 
of 
labour force (%) 

Youth 
unemployment 
a 
rate 
as 
percentage 
of 
labour force (%) 

217 740 ± 311 

72.1 ± 0.1 

18 781 ± 145 

7.9 ± 0.1 

16.8 ± 0.3 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
Table 3: Participation and non-response rate of the EU-LFS by country, 2017 and 2014 

Unit 
non-
response 
rate (%) 
2017 
17.4 
19.7 
21.2 
45.0 
3.8 
33.2 
32.2 
25.4 
13.1 
20.4 
44.5 
14.9 
3.8 
35.4 
22.3 
41.7 
21.5 

Unit 
non-
response 
rate (%) 
2014 
27.8 
23.7 
20.6 
46.2 
2.3 
31.3 
23.9 
24.6 
15.2 
20.9 
31.3 
11.8 
4.2 
35.7 
19.6 
84.6 
17.2 

Country 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 

Participation 
2017 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 

Unit 
non-
response 
rate (%) 
2017 
24.8 
48.4 
3.4 
38.7 
16.1 
12.7 
20.1 
18.0 
32.7 
43.4 
50.7 
31.5 
15.8 
19.7 
16.7 
11.9 
4.3 

Unit 
non-
response 
rate (%) 
2014 
23.7 
42.7 
5.7 
31.5 
14.8 
9.5 
21.3 
11.0 
28.0 
35.7 
39.8 
21.0 
19.9 
18.8 
- 
24.6 
9.3 

Country 
MT 
NL 
AT 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SI 
SK 
FI 
SE 
UK 
IS 
NO 
CH 
ME 
MK 
TR 

Participation 
2017 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 

3.2. 

Timeliness and punctuality 

The timeliness of statistics is defined as the length of time between data availability and the 
event or phenomenon they describe. For the EU-LFS, this length of time depends on: (i) the 
time Member States need to conduct and process the survey and send the results to Eurostat, 
and (ii) the time needed by Eurostat to process, validate and publish the results. 

Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 states that Member States must deliver data to Eurostat 
within 12 weeks of the end of a reference quarter. Eurostat validates the national datasets as 
soon  as  they  are  received.  Table  4  shows  the  time  span  between  the  end  of  the  reference 
quarter and the availability of data for Eurostat’s users for the period 2014-2017. Timeliness 
of  EU-LFS  data  has  slightly  improved  for  the  EU-28  in  recent  years.  In  2017,  the  average 
number of calendar days needed to disseminate the EU-28 data was 75 days, compared to 77 
days in  2014. Eurostat plans to  further improve the timeliness of dissemination of EU-LFS 
results by shortening the deadline for data delivery to Eurostat in the future. 

The timeliness of EU-LFS data is also important for estimating monthly unemployment rates. 
As  soon  as  national  data  are  processed  by  Eurostat,  they  are  used  to  calculate  the  next 
monthly unemployment rate. The monthly unemployment rate is disseminated approximately 
30 days after the end of the reference month. 

6 

 
 
 
Table 4: Availability of LFS data to users — Timeliness, 2014-2017 

of 

and 

Number 
calendar  days 
between the end of the reference 
period 
Eurostat’s 
dissemination  of  national  data 
(website) 
<31 
31-60 
61-90 
91+ 
Total 
Average number of calendar days 

Number of countries 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

All  EU-28  All  EU-28  All  EU-28  All  EU-28 

0 
0 
2 
2 
27  24 
4 
2 
33  28 
77  77 

0 
0 
2 
2 
29  24 
2 
2 
33  28 
80  80 

0 
0 
5 
3 
27  24 
1 
1 
33  28 
73  74 

0 
0 
6 
5 
25  22 
2 
1 
33  28 
77  75 

The punctuality of statistics is defined as the time lag between the announced release date and 
the actual release date. Eurostat publishes the planned quarterly and annual release dates of 
the  main  EU-LFS  indicators.  In  2015-2017,  all  the  announced  publication  deadlines  were 
met. 

3.3. 

Accessibility and clarity 

Eurostat disseminates EU-LFS statistics in several ways. The main tool for dissemination is 
Eurostat’s  online  database,  which  contains  more  than  400  tables  of  detailed  EU-LFS  data 
(quarterly, annual, household and ad hoc module results). The policy indicators described in 
paragraph  2.2  are  also  published  in  specific  sections  of  the  website16;  the  tables  in  these 
sections  cover  only 
important  EU-LFS  results.  Eurostat  produces  other 
combinations of EU-LFS variables as tailor-made tabulations on demand from users. 

the  most 

EU-LFS  microdata  are  also  highly  relevant  for  scientific  purposes.  They  are  requested  by 
growing numbers of researchers from universities, research institutes and national statistical 
institutes  across  Europe and  beyond. Eurostat  has  been  providing  microdata free  of  charge 
since 2011. Access is granted in accordance with the terms set out in Commission Regulation 
(EC) No 557/201317 to ensure the protection of survey respondents’ personal data18. The data 
files,  consisting  of  individual  records,  do  not  contain  direct  identifiers  such  as  names, 
addresses or ID numbers. Moreover, anonymisation rules are applied. 

Detailed  documentation  (metadata)  is  provided  to  users  through  various  dissemination 
channels. General information is disseminated to the public at large on the EU-LFS section of 
the Eurostat website. More detailed information  can be accessed in  the website’s ‘Statistics 

16 

17 
18 

for 

EU2020: 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/europe-2020-indicators/europe-2020-

Example 
strategy/headline-indicators-scoreboard (available only in English, French and German). 
OJ L 164, 18.6.2013. 
See Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement 
of  such  data,  and  repealing  Directive  95/46/EC  (General  Data  Protection  Regulation)  (OJ  L  119, 
4.5.2016, p. 1). 

7 

 
 
 
                                                           
Explained’  section19.  This  information  is  updated  regularly.  Specific  information  on  the 
content  and  quality  of  statistics  is  released  in  two  annual  publications:  a  methodological 
publication describing the characteristics of the national surveys, and an annual quality report 
summarising the results achieved by the EU-LFS20. In addition, specific metadata is attached 
to  the  EU-LFS  statistics  in  Eurostat’s  online  database.  Since  2014,  information  from  the 
National Quality Reports of each participating country has also been published online. 

Countries  regularly  improve  their  LFS,  either  in  its  methodology  or  processes.  If  these 
improvements lead to breaks in EU-LFS data, the NSIs involved inform Eurostat. Significant 
breaks  are  documented  in  Eurostat  publications21.  Eurostat  also  publishes  a  special  dataset 
called ‘LFS main indicators’, in which previous series are adjusted for breaks and occasional 
data gaps are filled. 

3.4. 

Comparability 

The  EU-LFS  draws  on  highly  harmonised  concepts,  definitions,  classifications  and 
methodologies.  Regulation  (EC)  No  377/2008  sets  out  a  common  coding  scheme,  ensuring 
that all participating countries use the same variable definitions. Common classifications are 
used (e.g. the European standard classification of productive economic activities (NACE) and 
the  International  Standard  Classification  of  Occupations  (ISCO)),  and  whenever  these 
classifications  are  revised,  Eurostat  ensures  that  all  participating  countries  coordinate 
implementation.  In  addition,  Eurostat  issues  explanatory  notes  which  provide  detailed 
guidelines  to  national  statistical  institutes  on  how  to  code  and  implement  statistics.  The 
the  guidelines. 
explanatory  notes  also  explain  Eurostat’s  reasoning  for  each  of 
Methodological  issues  are  discussed  in  a  dedicated  working  group,  the  Labour  Market 
Statistics  Working  Group.  This  group  fosters  the  exchange  of  experience  and  common 
practices among all participating countries. 

To  ensure  that  the  measurement  of  unemployment  is  harmonised  across  all  countries 
participating,  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1897/200022  lays  down  an  operational 
definition of unemployment. It also lays down principles to be followed for formulating the 
survey  questions  on  labour  status.  The  definition  of  unemployment  is  consistent  with 
International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards, which were adopted by the 13th and 14th 
International  Conferences  of  Labour  Statisticians23.  This  ensures  that  EU-LFS  statistics  are 
comparable to those from other countries, especially those of other OECD members. 

19 

20 
21 

22 

23 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/overview (available only in English, French and German). 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/EU_labour_force_survey  (available  only  in 
English). 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/publications/quality-reporting (available only in English). 
The documentation on breaks in series in the EU-LFS is available (only in English) at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/EU_labour_force_survey (Chapter 1). 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1897/2000  of  7 September  2000  implementing  Council  Regulation 
(EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community concerning the 
operational definition of unemployment (OJ L 228, 8.9.2000, p. 18). 
http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-
international-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/lang--en/index.htm 
The  implementation of  the newly adopted ILO definitions  of employment and unemployment by the 
19th  International  Conference  of  Labour  Statisticians  is  described  in  Chapter  4  (available  only  in 
English, French and Spanish). 

8 

 
 
 
                                                           
 
3.5. 

Coherence 

Consistency between population estimates based on EU-LFS and demographic statistics is an 
important  aspect  of  overall  quality.  Based  on  a  sample  survey,  the  EU-LFS’s  results  are 
calculated  from  the  responses  of  a  subset  of  the  population.  The  responses  are  then 
benchmarked against the entire population. Data for the entire population is based on the best 
estimates available at the time (broken down by sex and age groups to improve the accuracy 
of  the  procedure).  In  principle,  this  benchmarking  procedure  ensures  consistency  between 
EU-LFS  and  demographic  statistics.  However,  differences  may  occur  in  exceptional 
circumstances. For instance, every 10 years, new population census results become available. 
If a new census produces figures that differ from previous population estimates, a past series 
may have to be revised. In such a case, the revision policy for demographic statistics and the 
EU-LFS may differ in length and timing, constrained by the lack of detailed information on 
the population for the 10 years between censuses. 

Most of the countries participating in the EU-LFS carried out a population census in the 2011 
round.  New  census  results  often  lead  to  new  LFS  weights,  sample  frames  and/or  sample 
designs. All NSIs in countries where censuses were held in 2011 have checked, and revised 
when needed, the LFS weights to reflect new population estimates, including re-weighting of 
back-data series, at least back to 2010. 

On the consistency of unemployment estimates, many countries also publish statistics on the 
number of people registered at the public employment office and looking for work. The LFS 
unemployment  figures  and  the  number  of  registered  job  seekers  differ  because  of  the 
different nature of the data collected. While the EU-LFS draws on a harmonised methodology 
to  survey  households  on  their  employment  activities  and  availability  for  work,  the  public 
employment offices’ administrative records comprise an exhaustive list of people registered 
and  eligible  for  unemployment  benefits.  Because  the  criteria  for  registration  depend  on 
national  social  policies,  statistics  on  registered  job  seekers  are  not  comparable  across 
countries or over time. 

Another  area  in  which  statistical  consistency  is  important  is  in  comparing  employment 
estimates  produced  from  the  LFS  and  from  national  accounts,  as  the  estimates  are  not 
necessarily  the  same.  This  is  due  to  differences  in  both  methodologies  (the  concepts  and 
coverage  of  the  population  are  not  identical)  and  compilation  processes.  National  accounts 
are  compiled  by  comparing  and  combining  all  relevant  data  sources  available  in  a  country, 
and taking the best from each source to obtain comprehensive results. National accounts also 
seek consistency between measures of employment and production (Gross Domestic Product, 
GDP). The LFS is one data source in that process. Other data sources in the process include 
business surveys, employment registers or social security registers. Consistency between the 
LFS  and  national  accounts  has  been  addressed  by  the  Labour  Market  Statistics  Working 
Group.  Eurostat  assesses  the  differences  between  the  two  estimates,  and  several  NSIs  have 
analysed  the  causes  and  the  size  of  the  differences.  In  some  cases,  NSIs  have  published 
reconciliation tables between the two datasets. 

9 

 
 
A comparison between the LFS and national accounts shows that the LFS is more suitable for 
measuring  participation  in  the  labour  market  (unemployment  and  activity)  or  for  analysing 
the  situation  of  specific  socioeconomic  groups  in  the  population  (e.g.  by  age,  gender  or 
educational  level).  National  accounts  data  are  more  suitable  for  comparing  employment 
estimates with aggregate production and income measures at macro level. 

4. 

INITIATIVES TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

4.1. 

The LFS in a modernised system of social statistics 

Building on the Commission’s ‘Communication on the production method of EU statistics: a 
vision for the next  decade’24,  the Commission  adopted  on 26 August  2016 a proposal  for a 
regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council for European statistics relating to 
persons  and  households,  based  on  data  at  individual  level  collected  from  samples  (the 
Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS). framework regulation)25.  

This initiative aimed to modernise European social statistics. Indeed, the proposed framework 
regulation  will  increase  the  comparability  and  consistency  of  European  social  statistics  by 
bringing together seven existing household  surveys that are currently carried out in the EU, 
and  harmonising  the  definitions,  concepts  and  variables  that  are  common  to  two  or  more 
surveys.  This  will  facilitate  joint  analysis  of  social  phenomena.  The  proposed  framework 
regulation is expected to lead to a first data collection in 2021. 

The EU-LFS is one of the household surveys covered by the IESS framework regulation, and 
it  is  being  modernised  to  comply  with  the  framework  regulation.  This  modernisation  will 
align  the  EU-LFS  with  the  19th  International  Conference  of  Labour  Statisticians  (ICLS) 
resolution adopted in October 2013, with a more restricted scope for employment and more 
precise criteria for parental leave and seasonal work. The modernisation will also improve the 
relevance  of  the  LFS  for:  (i)  migration  analysis  and  (ii)  comparability  of  information  on 
working time and monthly pay from people’s main job. In addition, the modernisation of EU-
LFS  will  lead  to  better  coverage  of:  (i)  employment  (dependent  self-employment),  (ii) 
general  health  information  (to  compare  the  labour  market  situation  of  disabled  people  with 
that of the total target population), and (iii) participation in education and training (lasting at 
least 12 months). 

Furthermore, the revision of the EU-LFS will improve the timeliness of data transmission to 
Eurostat, 
further  develop  methodological 
requirements,  and 
improvements. 

the  precision 

revise 

4.2. 

Extending the EU-LFS to additional candidate countries 

Currently,  34  countries  (the  28  EU  Member  States,  3  candidate  countries  and  3  EFTA 
countries) participate in the EU-LFS. This means that they send data to Eurostat in line with 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  577/98  and  that  their  data  are  regularly  disseminated  by 
Eurostat.  The  candidate  countries  already  included  are  Montenegro,  the  former  Yugoslav 

24 
25 

COM(2009) 404 of 10 August 2009. 
COM(2016) 551. 

10 

 
 
                                                           
Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. Eurostat works closely with the statistical offices from 
other candidate countries to help them progress towards compliance with Council Regulation 
(EC)  No  577/98  in  survey  content  and  quality.  Serbia  and  Albania  have  already  started 
sending  LFS  data  to  Eurostat.  As  soon  as  the  national  surveys  of  these  countries  meet  the 
requirements of the European regulations, their data will also be disseminated by Eurostat. 

4.3. 

Developing new statistical products 

Statistics to capture labour market dynamics 

Changes in the labour status of individual people are of great interest, because they provide 
additional information on the general situation of the labour market, including its flexibility 
or  rigidity.  These  changes  also  provide  information  on  the situation  of  specific  groups.  For 
example,  data  on  labour  market  dynamics  make  it  possible  to  analyse  how  many  people 
became unemployed or found a job over a certain period, and who these people are. This in 
turn  makes  it  possible  to  identify  groups  which  have  a  better  chance  of  finding  a  job,  or 
groups which are more at risk of becoming or remaining unemployed. 

labour  market  analyses  showing 

the  movements  between  employment, 
Quarterly 
unemployment  and  economic  inactivity  were  first  published  in  2015.  Additional  results, 
giving breakdowns of these movements by sex, age group, unemployment duration, or job-to-
job transitions, are published since 2017 as experimental statistics. 

Eurostat and national statistical institutes are currently working on developing a methodology 
to  estimate annual  labour market  transitions,  tackling the challenges posed by high attrition 
rates  (decreasing  sample  sizes  across  interview  waves)  as  well  as  population  changes  over 
time. 

Extension and preparation of the EU-LFS main indicators with the future legal framework 

The LFS main indicators are a collection of the most important EU-LFS results disseminated 
in  Eurostat’s  online  database.  Their  aim  is  to  provide  users  with  seasonally  adjusted  time 
series  of  the  most  important  indicators  describing  the  labour  market  (e.g.  employment, 
unemployment and activity rates). These highly relevant indicators have been improved over 
time and extended to include indicators covering groups such as NEETs (young people not in 
employment, education or training). 

Eurostat and the Labour Market Statistics Working Group have developed a strategy to tackle 
the breaks in time series caused by the entry into force of the new framework regulation. This 
strategy  will  ensure  the  publication  of  break-free  main  indicator  series.  It  requires  a 
duplication of the data, allowing Eurostat to derive back-series aligned with the new LFS in 
parallel with national dissemination. Due to: (i) the large differences in approaches used by 
countries to derive information on the breaks in series, and (ii) the large number of indicators 
that  must  be  derived  based  on  relatively  scarce  information,  Eurostat  has  already  begun 
working on all implementation steps of this project. 

Additional information on the accuracy of EU-LFS results 

11 

 
 
Surveys such as the EU-LFS provide estimates of indicators on a target population based on a 
randomly  selected  sample  of  that  population.  As  only  a  subset  of  the  target  population  is 
selected,  it  is  important  to  provide,  alongside  the  estimate,  information  on  the  estimate’s 
accuracy  (see  paragraph  3.1).  Such  quality  indicators  take  the  form  of  standard  errors,  or 
confidence intervals. 

Eurostat  and  the  Member  States  have  produced  the  variance  of  annual  net  changes  for  a 
subset of 23 indicators of high policy relevance (as described in paragraph 2.2). This allows 
users,  when  disseminating  and  analysing  these  EU-LFS  indicators  for  policy  purposes,  to 
supplement  the  information  on  indicator  changes  between  two  consecutive  years  with 
information on the statistical significance of these indicator changes. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission monitors Member State compliance with Regulation (EC) No 577/98. The 
Commission  considers  the  implementation  of  EU-LFS  to  be  very  satisfactory,  as  Member 
States are fully — or almost fully — complying with this European legislation. Unresolved 
issues are discussed with Member States, and, if necessary, action plans are jointly drawn up. 
The overall quality of the EU-LFS is good. 

The  European  Statistical  System  works  to  continuously  improve  EU-LFS  processes  and 
methods. It has kept up the momentum of these efforts despite a difficult environment, with 
scarce  resources  and  deep  budget  cuts.  Constant  improvements  to  EU-LFS  are  under  way, 
either  as  part  of  the  modernisation  process  of  social  statistics,  or  as  individual  EU-LFS 
projects for adapting to changes in user needs and new challenges (e.g. increased timeliness 
requirements, estimates on annual labour market transitions). This work will continue in the 
coming years. 

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