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# Technical Notes

## Population labor and Emoloyment

_Population and Labor Force:_ Population data are based, in most cases, on a de facto definition. Refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum are generally considered to be part of the population of the country of their origin.

The total labor force consists of the 'economically active' population - a restrictive concept that includes the armed forces and the unemployed but excludes homemakers and other unpaid caregivers.

_Participation_ **_rate:_** This concept refers to the percentage of the population that is economically active.

_Unemployment:_ This concept is in accordance with the Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment adopted by the Thirteenth Intemational Conference of labor statisticians (1982). It comprises all persons between the ages of 15 and 64 who, during the reference period, were without work, currently available for work and seeking work.

There are, however, ample differences in the way each individual country treats this definition when compiling its own statistics. In a number of cases, national definitions of unemployment differ from the recommended standard definition. Differences relate to the age limits, treatment of persons temporarily laid off, and of persons seeking work for the first time.

Furthermore, intercountry comparisons are also affected by the variety of types of sources used to obtain information on unemployment and the differences in scope and coverage of such sources. In this study, the data will relate to the entire country in question. Rural areas, however, have tended to be less well covered than other areas in unemployment statistics.

In general, there are four main sources of unemployment statistics which may be distinguished.

- Labor force sample surveys or general household sample surveys generally provide very complete statistics on unemployment since, in particular, they include groups of persons who are not covered in unemployment statistics by other methods.

- Social Insurance Statistics which come from compulsory unemployment insurance schemes, which as a rule have broad industrial coverage and relate to wage earners and salaried employees, or sometimes to wage eamers only. Unemployment figures are then computed by comparing the number of people drawing insurance benefits with the total number of insured persons covered by schemes. The problem with this type of approach is that it is difficult to ascertain whether the people covered by the insurance scheme are representative of the country or whether they cover enough people. Therefore the data will give a distorted picture of unemployment in the former case or simply underestimate unemployment in the second.

- Employment office statistics generally refer to the number of applicants for work on the registers at the end of each month. They may include people without a job, but also people on strike, or temporarily unable to work and persons engaged on unemployment relief projects. While the statistics, in principle, do not include persons already in employment, some series also include persons in employment who are seeking a change of job or extra work and are therefore registered at employment offices. The value of these statistics varies widely. Where, for example, employment offices function in close connection with unemployment insurance, and registration is a qualifying condition for the receipt of unemployment benefits, they are comparable in reliability to compulsory unemployment insurance statistics. On the other hand, where registration is entirely voluntary and especially where the employment offices function only in the more populous regions of a country, or are not widely patronized by employees seeking work or by employers seeking workers, the data are generally very incomplete and do not give a reliable indication of the extent of unemployment. The scope of employment office statistics is therefore very difficult to ascertain and, in general, these statistics are not comparable from country to country.

- Official estimates, which are provided by national authorities and are usually based on combined information drawn from one or more of the above sources.

_Non-Agricultural employment_ This concept covers all major divisions of economic activity other than the major division 'Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing".

## Public Sector Employment

The conceptual definitions used in this study are consistent with the Intemational Standards put forth in the System of National Accounts, to which the majority of our sources, especially International Organizations, adhere.

Employment data cover both full-time and part-time employees. Whenever possible, the differences in employee status were highlighted in the country notes accompanying the tables.