Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

Eurostat, C1, National accounts methodology - Indicators

Office address:

Joseph Bech building

5, rue Alphonse Weicker

2721  Luxembourg

Functional mail box: ESTAT-MIP@ec.europa.eu

The MIP scoreboard indicators from the Unemployment - LFS adjusted series domain are:

• Unemployment rate, 3 year average.
• Long-term unemployment rate, % of active population aged 15-74 - 3 year change in pp.
• Youth unemployment rate, % of active population aged 15-24 - 3 year change in pp.

The Unemployment - LFS adjusted series (including also Harmonised long-term unemployment) is a collection of monthly, quarterly and annual series based on the quarterly results of the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), which are, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of an indicator. The EU-LFS covers the resident population in private households.

For the MIP purposes, the source data used for the indicator's calculation are also published: annual and quarterly data on unemployment rate and annual figures on youth and long-term unemployment rate.

Since 1 January 2021, the EU-LFS is based on Regulation (EU) 2019/1700, also called the Integrated European Social Statistics Framework Regulation (IESS FR), and its Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2240.

According to the regulations in force since 1 January 2021, the EU-LFS is organised in 9 topics:

Technical items
Person and household characteristics;
Labour market participation;
Educational attainment and background;
Job tenure, work biography and previous work experience;
Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements;
Participation in education and training;
Health: status and disability, access to, availability and use of health care and health determinants;
Income, consumption and elements of wealth, including debts.
The survey's target population consists of all persons usually residing in private households in the territory of the reporting country.

The EU-LFS results are produced in accordance with relevant international classification systems. The main classifications used are NACE Rev. 1 (NACE Rev. 1.1 from 2005) and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008) for economic activity, ISCO 88 (COM) and ISCO 08 (from 2011) for occupation, ISCED 2011 for level of education (from 2014) and ISCED-F 2013 for field of education (from 2016), replacing the former ISCED 1997 codes. For sub-national data, the EU-LFS uses the NUTS (Eurostat Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) and the classification of degree of urbanisation.

Actual coding in the EU-LFS may deviate to some extent from those general standards; for more details on classifications (including the comparability between the revised classifications) and levels of aggregation, please consult: EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology >> classifications.

Not applicable.

The MIP scoreboard indicators are:

• the three-year backward moving average of the unemployment rate, i.e. the data for year T is the arithmetic average of data for years T, T-1 and T-2. The calculation formula is: [UR_t + UR_t-1 + UR_t-2]/3. The indicative threshold is 10%.  The indicator monitors high and persistent rates of unemployment and it helps to better understand the potential severity of macroeconomic imbalances. It points towards a potential misallocation of resources and a general lack of adjustment capacity in the economy.
• the three-year change in percentage points of the long-term unemployment rate. The indicative threshold is 0.5 pp.
• the three-year change in percentage points of the youth unemployment rate. The indicative threshold is 2.0 pp.

The definitions and other survey characteristics follow the definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), they are further specified in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000. The domain comprises collections of monthly, quarterly and annual averages of unemployed persons and unemployment rates. The relevant definitions are as follows:

Unemployed persons are all persons 15 to 74 years of age (16 to 74 years in ES and IT) who were not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the past four weeks and were available to begin working immediately or within two weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force, or in other terms active population, is the total number of persons employed and unemployed.

The long-term unemployment rate is the share of unemployed persons for one year or more in the active population in the labour market. 

The youth unemployment rate is the unemployment rate of persons aged 15 to 24 as a percentage of the labour force of the same age group.

For more details, please consult the  EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology page.

Persons.

The EU LFS results cover the total population usually residing in Member States, except for persons living in collective or institutional households. While demographic data are gathered for all age groups, questions relating to labour market status are restricted to persons in the age group of 15 years or older. For more details and exceptions, please consult the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.

The MIP scoreboard presents data for each EU Member State, as well as for euro area (EA) and the European Union as a whole. 

Data for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France include the Overseas departments and Regions (DROM).

The lengths of series vary according to country, details on data availability are available under this link: tipsun10; tipsun20; tipsun30; tipslm70; tipslm80.

Not applicable

Unemployment rates are expressed in percentage and percentage point change (t, t-3). The MIP headline indicator Unemployment rate is a 3-year average.

The reference periods are the calendar months, quarters or years, depending on the indicator. They are defined by building up time periods based on the EU-LFS reference week.

The principal legal act is the Council Regulation (EC) No. 577/98. The implementation rules are specified in the successive Commission regulations. This is the main regulation with provisions on design, survey characteristics and decision-making processes. For more details, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Main features and legal basis.

The indicator Unemployment rate forms part of the MIP Scoreboard indicators set up under Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Not applicable

The Regulation 2015/759 of 29 April 2015, amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics of 11 March 2009 [recital 24 and Article 20(4)], stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those data.

EU-LFS microdata as received by Eurostat from the national statistical institutes do not contain any administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification. Access to this microdata is nevertheless strictly controlled and limited to specified Eurostat staff. After data treatment, records are aggregated for all further use.

Monthly unemployment data and other data in the domain 'LFS main indicators' are bound by a release calendar.

A release calendar for MIP scoreboard indicators is not available. Monthly unemployment figures and data belonging to the 'LFS main indicators' domain are published in accordance with the Eurostat release calendar.

The MIP Regulation stipulates that “the Commission shall make the set of indicators and the thresholds in the scoreboard public” (Art. 4, para. 6, Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances) and that “the Commission shall update the values for the indicators on the scoreboard at least on an annual basis” (Art. 4, para. 8).

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see §10 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

The MIP related indicators are updated and released in accordance to the dissemination of the underlying statistics.

News releases on-line

The MIP Scoreboard indicators are used to identify emerging or persistent macroeconomic imbalances in EU countries. The Scoreboard is part of an annual exercise, where the first step is the compilation of an Alert Mechanism Report (AMR).

See data availability for the different tables: tipsun10; tipsun20; tipsun30; tipslm70; tipslm80.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Detailed description of methods and concepts used, as well as for other documents related to the EU-LFS, please consult the Statistics Explained page - EU-LFS Methodology.

Eurostat's mission is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service - see Eurostat quality framework.

Moreover, the statistics underlying the Scoreboard indicators are subject to a specific quality assurance framework developed within the MIP context.

Quality is assured by the application of concepts according to a common methodology (as described under §10.6) and a thorough validation of the data delivered by Member States.

Data are collected from reliable sources, ensuring high comparability and applying high standards with regard to a harmonised methodology.

The quality assurance framework for the Macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP) follows a three-level structure:

The first level assesses the reliability and comparability of MIP underlying statistics and addresses relevant quality issues; it also enhances the communication on quality assurance of MIP statistics towards the European Parliament and Council, policy makers and the public at large. This level draws on the information gathered in levels two and three (see below).

The second level consists of domain-specific quality reports produced by Eurostat and the ECB summarising the main findings for the euro area or the EU Member States. Reports assess the underlying compilation process and its robustness, describe its legal basis and evaluate whether the statistics are in line with international statistical standards.

The third level consists of national quality reports (self-assessments) produced by the institution compiling the national statistics. Most of these reports are voluntarily published by Members States on the CMFB’s website and their availability depends upon the statistical domain.

The indicators

• Unemployment rate, 3 year average.
• Long-term unemployment rate, % of active population aged 15-74 - 3 year change in pp.
• Youth unemployment rate, % of active population aged 15-24 - 3 year change in pp.

are part of the headline indicators of the MIP Scoreboard. The MIP Scoreboard is used as an early warning system in the context of macroeconomic surveillance of the EU Member states. The MIP Scoreboard consists of a set of fourteen indicators, covering the major sources of macroeconomic imbalances. The aim of the scoreboard is to trigger in-depth studies, which will do analyses to determine whether potential imbalances identified in the early-warning system are benign or problematic.

Not applicable

The lengths of the time series vary from country to country and are related to the date of implementation of EU-LFS rules (national LFS not compliant with EU-LFS rules may have existed previously, e.g. previous to EU accession). However, time series are complete from the moment they start.

The Introduction of the Statistical Annex of each Alert Mechanism Report provides detailed information on data completeness.

The overall accuracy is considered as high. Unemployment is arguably the most important variable collected by EU-LFS, the survey design is optimized to measure unemployment.

Participating countries provide Eurostat with an estimate of the relative standard error of the following characteristics: rate of unemployment and youth unemployment rate. These relative standard errors can also be expressed as confidence limits, i.e. the range of values that 95% of times would capture the true value in the population. It is also relatively straightforward to provide similar statistics on the aggregate level. Estimates and confidence limits are calculated for each country and documented in the Quality Report of the EU-LFS (see § 10.6).

Coverage errors
Non-existent or uninhabited houses or population no longer living in the country are the main causes of over-coverage, especially for countries that use a Census list. Under-coverage problems are caused by the time lag in registering new residents or newly constructed dwellings. Field work problems during the survey also occur with multiple households that are recorded as one household in the framing list or the opposite.
Measurement errors
No estimates of measurement errors are available. However, the number of proxy interviews, the average number of interviews per interviewer and statistics on last updates of the questionnaire, are all related to the error sources listed above.
Processing errors
Between data collection and the beginning of statistical analysis for the production of statistics, data must undergo a certain processing: coding, data entry, data editing, imputation, etc. There are no estimates available on the rate of processing errors in the EU-LFS.
Non-response errors

Most of countries calculate non-response on the basis of the household unit, except Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, which compute non-response at the level of individuals.

For more details please consult Quality reports and methodological publications.

The quarterly series are updated 4 times a year approximately 150 days after the end of the reference quarter. Annual averages are published along with quarter 4 data.

For 2018 throughout all EU-LFS countries data were transmitted to Eurostat within an average of 63 days and published on Eurostat's website within an average of 76 days.

A common Council regulation ((EC) No 577/98 amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1372/2007), common variable definition (Commission Regulation (EC) No 430/2005), common explanatory notes (The European Union Labour Force Survey. Methods and definitions - 2002) and common regulation (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000) regarding the definition of unemployment and the twelve principles of questionnaire construction go a long way to ensure comparability of the statistics between the participating countries.

From 2006 onwards, Commission Regulation (EC) No 430/2005 of 15 March 2005 regulates the codification to be used for data transmission and the use of a sub-sample for the collection of data on structural variables (OJ No L 71/36).

Overall, comparability over time is considered as high. Methodological improvements in the underlying sampling design or changes in nomenclatura can lead to breaks in the time series. These are flagged in the database, and detailed information on each break can be found here. For some series, in particular employment and activity, estimates have been made for years in which not yet data for all quarters had been collected. These estimates are flagged accordingly. The estimates do not make use of other indicators, but are based on available quarterly data as well as the seasonal pattern of available years.

Often questions concerning coherence with registered unemployment are raised. The two indicators are not comparable. Indeed, they have different definitions, registration rules are not harmonised internationally and do not correspond to ILO standards. Moreover, other reasons for differences such as different geographical coverage (e.g. regions excluded), different time coverage, etc. can occur.

See related metadata employ_esms for more details.

No issues of internal coherence. See related metadata employ_esms for more details.

Not applicable

Revisions of previously released non-seasonally adjusted data based on EU-LFS are not expected, unless major errors are identified in the data delivered or in their processing. Exceptional revisions to back series may happen e.g. after new estimates of population from a population census, or corrections due to break corrections. Revisions of seasonally adjusted data may occur due to changes in the adjustment models used. Seasonal adjustment is done by Eurostat for most Member States on a disaggregated level (country by gender by age group, indirect approach) using TRAMO/SEATS. 

In general, data is revised 4 times a year for quarterly and annual data. Parameters used in the ARIMA models and for seasonal adjustment are reviewed annually.

Revisions of seasonally adjusted data can occur once a year with the identification of new seasonal adjustment models, following the guidelines on seasonal adjustment.

Different methods are used for the estimation of monthly unemployment rates and other quarterly or annual data. In all cases the EU-LFS is the main data source.

Data are calculated on a monthly basis. However, there is no legal basis regulating the production and dissemination of monthly unemployment data, as the EU-LFS is a quarterly survey. There are legislative acts of the European Council and Parliament and of the European Commission that govern the EU-LFS and result in the production of quarterly labour force statistics. Eurostat is complementing this quarterly data with a monthly indicator from LFS or from public employment offices' administrative registers delivered by Member States on the basis of a gentlemen's agreement. Results of the complementary calculations yield the harmonised monthly unemployment data. Quarterly and annual averages are calculated from these harmonised time series.

For EU-LFS: quarterly and annual.

The EU-LFS data collection is carried out through mainly four modes: personal visits, telephone interviews, web interviews and self-administered questionnaires. About half of the participating countries conduct the first interview always or mainly via CAPI while in subsequent waves the interviews are performed by CATI, if a telephone contact is available.

Most countries conduct the interview only with computerized questionnaires. Seven use both computerized and paper questionnaires and three countries rely solely on paper questionnaires.

For more information please consult the corresponding LFS quality report.

Quarterly LFS data: Eurostat checks the quality and consistency of microdata data transmitted by National Statistical Institutes. Eurostat calculates aggregate LFS results which are then validated by the Member States.

The EU LFS is a quarterly survey. The following method is used in order to produce monthly unemployment rates: for all countries, non-seasonally adjusted quarterly averages of the monthly series are benchmarked to the quarterly LFS figures. However, calculation models to produce individual months and provisional figures (for the period when LFS data are not yet available) depend on the availability and specific characteristics of the sources generated in each individual Member State. Eurostat aims at harmonizing the calculation process as much as possible. Apart from quarterly figures, some Member States exhibit monthly and/or 3 month moving averages from the LFS as well. Registered unemployment data are used for many Member States as an auxiliary source. The length of the series and specific correlation with unemployment figures measured with quarterly LFS vary from country to country.

More information is available under the Related metadata.

Annual results are derived from the populations obtained at the annual level. Annual averages of the quarterly data are produced as simple averages of the quarterly populations.

For the period when the survey was run annually in spring, annual averages were calculated as follows: first, the spring quarter was used in combination with a simple regression model to estimate the missing quarters; then the annual averages were calculated from these quarterly estimates.

Interpolations for quarterly missing country data are flagged accordingly and published, and used for the compilation of annual averages.

Seasonal adjustment is performed indirectly, i.e. on the lowest available breakdown, and higher aggregates are derived from these series. Models are estimated once a year, while parameters are re-estimated with the inclusion of each quarterly data point. 

For more information on the transition to a quarterly continuous survey, please consult EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Development and history.

Not available