EEC : Continuous Labour Force Survey - 2023

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Data description

The LFS questionnaire is structured around the following themes:

• the description of the household and its members;

• the status of an activity according to the ILO definition;

• the detailed description of the current main job (occupation, working time, kind of contract, income from work, etc.);

• the description of previous professional activiy;

• the level of education and participation in training;

• the receipt of benefits, including unemployment benefits and old-age pensions;

• health status;

• social and geographical origin;

• labour market trajectory over the past 12 months.

In 2023, the complementary module focuses on pension and labour market participation.

Sector coverage

LFS covers all sectors of the economy.

Statistical concepts and definitions

The LFS measures the concepts of labour force (employed and unemployed) according to the criteria established by the ILO.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an organization of the United Nations responsible for global labour issues. It is based in Geneva. It harmonises concepts and definitions relating to work, employment and unemployment, etc.

Labour force (ILO) includes employed and unemployed persons as defined by the ILO.

Employment (ILO) includes persons aged 15 years or more who have done at least one hour's paid work during a given week (known as the "reference week") or who are absent from work for certain reasons (annual leave, sickness, maternity, etc.) and for a certain period of time.

All forms of employment are covered (employees, self-employed, helpers in the company or on the family farm), whether declared or undeclared.

An unemployed person in the ILO sense is a person aged 15 years or more who simultaneously meets three conditions: being unemployed during a given week; being available for work within two weeks; and having actively looked for a job in the last four weeks or having found one starting in less than three months. The active steps considered are varied: studying job advertisements, going to a trade fair, mobilising one's social network or taking advice from the Pôle emploi, etc.

A formal education or training activity is an education or training activity which simultaneously:

• has a hierarchy level-grade structure;

• is subject to admission requirements;

• lasts at least one semester (minimum of 30 European Credits Transfer Scale);

• has a programme recognised by the relevant national education authority (or equivalent authority).

An education or training is said to be non-formal if one of the following conditions is not met:

• has a hierarchy level-grade structure;
• is subject to admission requirements;
• lasts at least one semester (minimum of 30 European Credits Transfer Scale);
• has a programme recognised by the relevant national education authority (or equivalent authority).

Statistical unit

Housing, household, individual.

Statistical population

Persons aged 15 to 89, living in ordinary housing.

• Ordinary housing (en)

Reference area

France hors Mayotte

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ILO labour force status is measured with reference to a given fixed week, known as the "reference week". Each week of the year is a reference week.

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Comparability - geographical

The results are comparable to those of European countries complying with the European IESS regulation, which aims to go further in the harmonisation and comparability of data, moving from harmonisation by output (variables) to harmonisation by input (how information is collected).

Comparability - over time and CC2. Length of comparable time series for U

Comparability over time is ensured through the use of stable methods.

In 2021, the renovation of the survey has led to a backcasting of previous results to ensure this comparability.

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Source data

In metropolitan France, the sampling frame for the Employment survey is the demographic file of dwellings and individuals (Fideli).

In the DOM, the sampling frame is the population census.

For more details, please refer to the "methodological documentation" section.

Data compilation

• For metropolitan France, a two-steps weighting method is applied to correct for non-reponse and control for sampling fluctuations: calibration and non-response model on variables from the sampling frame in the first step, calibration on external data (population by age, sex and region; number of dwellings) in the second step.
• For DOM, a two-steps weighting method is also applied: non-response model on variables from the sampling frame in the first step, calibration on external data (population by age, sex and region; number of dwellings) in the second step.

Sample size

In 2023, each quarter, 80 000 dwellings are surveyed.

Data collection documents

• Questionnaire LFS 2023 (pdf, fr)

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The LFS methodology was renewed in 2021 and resulted in a methodological note and an article in the Courrier des statistiques.

• Article from Courrier des statistiques n°6 (juillet 2021) (fr)
• LFS methodological note August 2023 (pdf, fr)

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2023 : https://doi.org/10.34724/CASD.8.5484.V3