Relevance
The
Labour Force Survey (LFS) is an ongoing survey conducted among private
households for the purpose of gathering information about the labour force
under European Framework Regulation (EC) No. 577/1998. Its main objective is that of
dividing the 15+ year old population into three mutually exclusive groups:
employed, unemployed, and inactive, and hence provides descriptive information
on each of these groups.
Methodological
description of survey
The
Labour Force Survey is an enquiry which is carried out using a random sample of
3,200 private households per quarter. The
objective is to have a continuous assessment of labour market trends given that
reference weeks are evenly spread throughout the 13 weeks of every quarter.
The
selection of participant households is conducted on a random basis out of all
private households in the Maltese Islands.
All families living in private households are eligible for selection.
The
LFS is a panel survey. The panel
rotation is 2-(2)-2 with 800 households chosen to participate for the first
time (first panel) being chosen for the second wave which is carried out in the
following quarter. These households are
out of the LFS for the two following
quarters and then reintroduced one year after the first survey and one year and
a quarter after the first survey. A
household participating for the first time in one quarter is therefore contacted
for another three times.
The
collection modes for LFS are mainly PAPI and CATI. For the first panel, the survey can either be
carried out through personal visits or by telephone; although personal visits
are preferred. However, in the
subsequent panels most of the surveys are carried out by telephone.
The data collected is being partly financed by a grant provided by the European Commission.
Accuracy
and reliability of data
Information
on the accuracy and reliability of data can be viewed in a dedicated quality
report available on the NSO’s metadata website.
Timeliness
and punctuality of data
At
a national level, the Labour Market Statistics Unit publishes a quarterly LFS
news release on the NSO’s website as scheduled in the Advance Release Calendar, which includes data on the same
quarter of the previous year.
LFS
datasets for a particular reference quarter are submitted to Eurostat not later
than 12 weeks after the end of data collection.
Data has always been submitted within the stipulated deadlines.
Accessibility
and clarity of data
On
an annual basis another news release entitled ‘Key Indicators on the Labour
Market’ is produced and disseminated. This
news release covers various topics concerning the labour market for a number of
years.
A
publication on LFS was produced, and made available on the NSO website, up to
reference year 2007. In 2016, data from
LFS was also used to publish the ‘Shift Employment in Malta 2015’ publication,
presenting a detailed demographic and economic picture of shift workers in Malta
and their evolving working patterns over the last five years. In addition, information concerning the
annual ad hoc module which is collected in the LFS is also disseminated
annually.
Every
year, a quality report is submitted to Eurostat to highlight methodological
issues involved in the survey. A similar
report is also produced at a national level and disseminated on the NSO’s
metadata website.
Coherence
and comparability/consistency of data
Quarterly
and annual LFS data are coherent and reconcilable. Data is also fully comparable with other
European Union Member States given that the same regulations are followed.
LFS
data has always been collected in a consistent manner and can be considered to
be comparable or reconcilable over time.
For main indicators, results at a national level are comparable from
2005 onwards.
At
the concept level, comparability may be affected by changes in classification. In LFS 2012, coding of the occupations was
done with ISCO 88 and converted to ISCO 08.
ISCO 08 was adopted in 2012. The
economic activity classification was also changed and in 2008 there was the
shift from NACE Rev 1.1 to NACE Rev 2. At
measurement level, comparability may be affected by a change in the sampling
frame following the Census of Population and Housing 2011. Previously, the Census 2005 was used as a
sampling frame.
There is no coherence
with administrative sources of unemployment due to differences in definitions.
Metadata