PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY

Why in News?

The Quarterly Bulletin for the quarter April – June 2023is available at the website of the Ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

What is Periodic Labour Force Survey?

Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017. The objective of PLFS is primarily twofold:

• To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
• To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

Sample Design of PLFS

A rotational panel sampling design has been used in urban areas. In this rotational panel scheme, each selected household in urban areas is visited four times, in the beginning with ‘First Visit Schedule’ and thrice periodically later with a ‘Revisit Schedule’. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75% of the first-stage sampling units (FSUs) are matched between two consecutive visits.

Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators for the Quarterly Bulletin: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc. These indicators, and ‘Current Weekly Status’ are defined as follows:

a. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e., Working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
b. Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
c. Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
d. Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

Key Findings of PLFS, Quarterly Bulletin (April –June2023)

1. Increasing Trend in Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons of age 15 years and above
2. Increasing Trend in Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons of age 15 years and above
3. Decreasing Trend in Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons of age 15 years and above
4. Improvement in key labour market indicators in urban areas in April-June 2023 compared to those in pre pandemic period (quarters considered are April-June 2018 to October – December 2019)