Labour force survey

Summary

From the labour force survey, ISTAT derives its official estimates of the number of employed persons and job-seekers, as well as information about the main labour supply aggregates, such as occupation, economic activity area, hours worked, contract types and duration and training. Since being introduced at the beginning of the 1950s, the survey has played a primary role in the statistical documentation and analysis of the employment situation in Italy and has proven to be an indispensable instrument of knowledge for public decision-makers, the media and citizens alike. ISTAT collects the information each quarter by interviewing a sample of nearly 77,000 households, representing 175,000 individuals who are resident in Italy, even if they are temporarily abroad. Households usually living abroad and permanent members of communities (religious institutes, military barracks, etc.) are not included. The survey has been updated over the years to take into account continual transformations in the labour market, on the one hand, and the growing information requirements of users regarding the social and economic reality of our nation, on the other. The most recent change was undertaken at the beginning of 2004 in line with European Union regulations. The current sample survey is continuous insofar as information is collected during every week of the year and no longer during a single week per quarter. The results are still disseminated on a quarterly basis, except for provincial data, which are disseminated annually. A significant feature of the survey is the establishment of new criteria for identifying employed and unemployed individuals, as well as a far-reaching reorganisation of the data collection and production process. To make new estimates comparable with estimates referring to previous years, ISTAT has reconstructed the time series since the fourth quarter of 1992.

Type of data

Data Source
Other, please specify

Type of Study
Other: Social sample study

Data gathering method
Face-to-face

Access to data

Conditions of access

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Aggregate tables.

Formats available
Excel, csv.

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Sample size: 76,000 people

First year of collection
2004

Stratification if applicable
Municipalities, families. Municipalities are classified by demographic size and divided into 346 self-representatives (municipalities with demographic size higher then a given threshold) and non-self-representatives.

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Italy

Age range
Individuals aged 15 and over

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
NA

Linkage

Standardisation
NA

Possibility of linkage among databases
NA

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
NA

Breaks
NA

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
NA

Governance

Contact information
Gianlorenzo Bagatta
ISTAT
Via Cesare Balbo 16
00184 Rome Italy Phone: +39 06 46731
Email: gianlorenzo.bagatta(at)istat.it
Url: http://dati.istat.it/Index.aspx

Timeliness, transparency
Data is collected and released on a quarterly basis.