Graph and download economic data for Labour Force Survey - quarterly levels: Harmonised unemployment - monthly levels: Aged 25 and over: Males for G7 (G7LFHUADMASTSAM) from Jan 2004 to May 2018 about G7, males, 25 years +, harmonized, labor force, labor, and unemployment.

The seasonally-adjusted national unemployment rate is measured on a monthly basis in the United States. In February 2025, the national unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method of removing the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends. U.S. monthly unemployment rate According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the principle fact-finding agency for the U.S. Federal Government in labor economics and statistics - unemployment decreased dramatically between 2010 and 2019. This trend of decreasing unemployment followed after a high in 2010 resulting from the 2008 financial crisis. However, after a smaller financial crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment reached 8.1 percent in 2020. As the economy recovered, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 in 2021, and fell even further in 2022. Additional statistics from the BLS paint an interesting picture of unemployment in the United States. In November 2023, the states with the highest (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate were the Nevada and the District of Columbia. Unemployment was the lowest in Maryland, at 1.8 percent. Workers in the agricultural and related industries suffered the highest unemployment rate of any industry at seven percent in December 2023.

Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 4.20 percent in July from 4.10 percent in June of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Group of Seven (G7) - Labour Force Survey - quarterly rates: Harmonised unemployment - monthly rates: Total: Males for G7 was 4.49718 Percentage in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Group of Seven (G7) - Labour Force Survey - quarterly rates: Harmonised unemployment - monthly rates: Total: Males for G7 reached a record high of 8.97695 in October of 2009 and a record low of 3.97284 in December of 2022. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Group of Seven (G7) - Labour Force Survey - quarterly rates: Harmonised unemployment - monthly rates: Total: Males for G7 - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on August of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Labour Force Survey - quarterly levels: Harmonised unemployment - monthly levels: Aged 25 and over: All persons for G7 (G7LFHUADTTSTQ) from Q1 1995 to Q1 2018 about G7, 25 years +, harmonized, labor force, labor, and unemployment.

Uzbekistan UZ: Unemployment: % Change over Previous Period data was reported at 4.665 % in Dec 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of -3.112 % for Sep 2018. Uzbekistan UZ: Unemployment: % Change over Previous Period data is updated quarterly, averaging 3.224 % from Jun 2017 (Median) to Dec 2018, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 70.346 % in Mar 2018 and a record low of -5.344 % in Jun 2018. Uzbekistan UZ: Unemployment: % Change over Previous Period data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Monetary Fund. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Uzbekistan – Table UZ.IMF.IFS: Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment: Quarterly.

Abstract

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the National Statistical Organization of the country, has been conducting Labour Force Survey (LFS) since 1980 and repeated it every three/four year until 2013. The surveys could not be held at uniform time intervals due to resource constraint and other reasons. Finally, from July 2015, BBS has undertaken a development project and started implementation of quarterly labour force survey to provide labour market indicators. Gender disaggregated data on labour force, employment, unemployment, underemployment, not in labour force, hours worked, earnings, informal employment. Non-economic activities, volunteer activities are available in this report. The survey found that around half (51.2 per cent) of the 30.5 million employed persons worked more than 48 hours per week. By sex, the proportion of male workers working more than 48 hours (60.9 per cent) was higher than that of female workers (28.4 per cent). By industry, the highest rates of persons in excessive hours were in the Accommodation and food service activities (78.4 per cent), wholesale and retail trade sector (72.9 per cent), manufacturing (69.3 per cent), and households (61.5 per cent).

The primary objective of the survey was to collect comprehensive data on the Labour Force, employment and unemployment of the population aged 15 or older for use by the Government, international organizations, NGOs, researchers and others to efficiently provide targeted interventions. Specific objectives of the survey:

• Provide relevant information regarding the characteristics of the population and household that relate to housing, household size, female-headed households;

• Provide detailed information on education and training, such as literacy, educational attainment and vocational training;

• Provide relevant information on economic activities and the labour force regarding the working-age population, economic activity status and Labour Force participation;

• Provide detailed information on employment and informal employment by occupation and industry, education level and status in employment;

• Provide relevant information on unemployment, the youth labour force participation, youth employment, and youth unemployment;

• Provide other information on decent work regarding earnings from employment, working hours and time-related underemployment, quality and stability of employment, social security coverage, and safety at work, equal opportunities;

• Provide relevant information on non-economic activities, volunteer activities etc.

Geographic coverage

National coverage.

Analysis unit

• Individuals

• Household

Universe

Age is a strong determinant of labour market so a common age cut-off and categories are important. The labour related questions of the survey refer to the population of 15 years old and over. The following age ranges is used in presenting the statistics: 15–24; 25–34; 35–44; 45–54; 55–64; and 65 and over. Besides, LMI is provided separately for youths as the youths are more prone to unstable transition to labour market. However, in setting the minimum LFS coverage age is the fact that the Government of Bangladesh, being aware that many young people, who are unable to continue with higher schooling, enter the labour market instead, has set the legal age for admission to employment at 14 completed years. Given that, inclusion of persons aged 15 years and over may result in the undercount of persons employed or unemployed in the country.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The frame used for the selection of sample for the survey was based on the Population and Housing Census 2011. Sampling Frame which was made up of preparing of PSUs that is consists of collapsing one or more Enumeration Area (EAs) that was created for the Population and Housing Census 2011. EAs is geographical contiguous areas of land with identifiable boundaries. On average, each PSUs has 225 households. All the Enumeration areas of the country was identified into three segments viz. Strong, Semi-strong and not-strong based on the housing materials. The frame has 1284 PSUs/EAs spread all over the country, and covers all socio-economic classes and hence able to get a suitable and representative sample of the population. The survey was distributed into twenty-one domains viz. Rural, Urban and City corporations of seven administrative divisions.

From each selected PSUs/EAs, an equal number of 24 households were selected systematically, with a random start. The systematic sampling method was adopted as it enables the distribution of the sample across the cluster evenly and yields good estimates for the population parameters. Selection of the households was done at the HQ and assigned to the Enumerators, with strictly no allowance for replacement of non-responding households. The Bangladesh Quarterly Labor Force Survey (QLFS) sample will be selected in two stages, with small area units called Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) in the first stage and a cluster of 24 households per PSU in the second stage. Both stages are random selections. The survey will implement a rotational panel strategy, in which some of the households in each cluster will be replaced by new households each quarter. The survey launched in July 2015, with a total sample size of about 30,800 households (1,284 PSUs) in each quarter and 123634 in the year 2015-16, intended to deliver reliable quarterly estimates of unemployment and other relevant labor force indicators for of the country's seven divisions and locality viz. national level estimates with disaggregation by City Corporations, Rural and Urban.

The survey involved a sample of 30816 households from 1284 PSUs/sample enumeration areas distributed across all the 64 Districts for each quarter and the ultimate sample households for the year 2015-16 was 126000 in total. The survey covered both urban and rural areas and dwelling households, including one person households. The institutional households, that is, those living in hostels, hotels, hospitals, old homes, military and police barracks, prisons, welfare homes and other institutions were excluded from the coverage of the survey.

Sampling deviation

Most BBS household surveys use a two-stage sampling strategy similar to that of the QLFS, and most of them share a common set of PSUs – the Integrated Multi-Purpose Sample (IMPS) – as a basis for their first sampling stage. However, the QLFS, given the specificities of its rotational strategy, has opted for choosing an independent set of PSUs for this purpose. The first stage sample frame of the QLFS was developed on the basis of the list of Enumeration Areas (EAs) generated by the 2011 Census. Some of the original 293,093 EAs were deemed too small to support the adopted rotational panel strategy, and were joined to neighboring EAs in order to create 146,576 PSUs of more adequate size: most of the resulting PSUs have between 150 and 300 households, with an average of 217. Whenever possible, the EAs with less than 150 households were appended to EAs from the same village, although in the most sparsely populated areas it was sometimes necessary to append entire villages to neighboring villages within the same mauza or mahalla (the lower level administrative division of the country.)2 Entire mauzas or mahallas were never appended to neighboring areas, even if they were too small – they remained as individual PSUs in the sample frame. The second stage sample frame will be a full listing of all households in the selected PSUs. The listings were completed between February and March 2015. If the survey indeed becomes a regular exercise, they should be permanently updated so that they are never older than two years.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2015-16 questionnaire comprised 14 sections, as follows:

• Section 1. Household basic information

• Section 2. Household roster (members’ basic information)

• Section 3. General education (for persons aged 5 years or older) & vocational training (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 4. Working status (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 5. Main activities (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 6. Secondary activities (for employed persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 7. Occupational safety and health within the previous 12 months (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 8. Underemployment (for employed persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 9. Unemployment (for not employed persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 10. Own use production of goods (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 11. Own use provision of services (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 12. Unpaid trainee/apprentice work (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 13. Volunteer work (for persons aged 15 years or older)

• Section 14. Migration (for persons aged 15 years or older)

Cleaning operations

With regard to editing and processing errors, several consistency checks were done, both manually and computerized programme using CSPro; batch editing was done using Stata, to ensure the quality and acceptability of the data produced. The Non-sampling error is to ensure high quality data, several steps were taken to minimize non-sampling errors. Unlike sampling errors, these errors cannot be measured and can only be overcome through several administrative procedures. These errors can arise as a result of incomplete survey coverage, frame defect, response error, non-response and

Full edition for scientific use. Since 1983 labour force surveys (LFS) are conducted annually in all European Union (EU) member states. The LFS serve as a basis for internationally compatible (in terms of definition and survey method) data on employment and unemployment for the European Commission. In Austria the LFS is conducted in full annually. The chosen month therefore is March because in this month the Microcensus-quarterly-survey which is most suitable in terms of scheduling for the LFS is performed. Central questions for the assessment of the number of employed and unemployed persons (and as a result for the calculation of the unemployment rate according to international standards) are in addition (since 1994) asked quarterly in the Microcensus standard survey. The survey conducted in March always relates to the week before the interview and includes the whole population, which means everybody who has their main residence in Austria. Data for persons not found have to be added via a substitution method so that results for the whole population can be provided. In Austria (as well as in several other states) the LFS is only conducted among the population in private households; people who live in institutions (retirement homes, boarding homes, and the like) are not included in the survey (the Microcensus special surveys are not conducted in institutional households due to organisational problems and problems with performing the surveys there). These are topics of the LFS: -> immigrants with and without the Austrian citizenship (4 questions) -> features of the first job (21 questions) -> statements on part-time jobs (6 questions) -> previous employments of unemployed persons (7 questions) -> job-seeking (13 questions) -> situation of unemployed persons (3 questions) -> school and professional education (9 questions) -> situation one year previous to the survey (7 questions) Furthermore, there are questions on the demographic background, providing information, evidence and the like. In the Microcensus, the annual special LFS survey contains 70 questions in addition to the questions of the standard survey which is concerned with standard LFS topics. The questions have remained more or less the same over the years. The only questions that have been changed slightly were those on education. Missing information is substituted with information from persons with similar socio-demographic variables (imputation), so that there are no unknown cases.

Abstract

The objective of PLFS is primarily on two aspects. The first is to measure the dynamics in labour force participation and employment status in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS). Thus, in every quarter, PLFS will bring out the level and change estimates of the key labour force indicators in CWS viz. Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Unemployment Rate (UR). Secondly, for both rural and urban areas, level estimates of all important parameters in both usual status and CWS will be brought out annually.

Geographic coverage

12800 FSUs (7024 villages and 5776 UFS blocks) will be covered annually at all-India level.

Sampling procedure

A rotational panel sampling design will be used in urban area. The rotational scheme will be of two years duration to accommodate the changes in the urban frame in the intracensal period; in the sense that the sampling frames for both rural and urban areas will remain unchanged for every two-year duration. In this rotational panel scheme each selected household in urban areas will be visited four times - one with first visit schedule and other three with revisit schedule. The estimates can be given for successive quarters without any break in the series (starting from the fifth quarter), ensuring a 75% matching between consecutive quarters. Regression based estimates will not be generated. Instead, usual traditional design based estimates will be generated. The proposed design aims at generating quarterly estimates of level and change parameters of some important labour force indicators (LFPR, WPR & UR) based on CWS data in urban areas and annual estimates of level parameters based on usual status for both rural and urban areas in the line of employment & unemployment survey of NSS quinquennial round.

Rotational panel design for urban areas

i. The initial rotational panel will be for two years, where only 25% FSUs of urban annual allocation will be covered in the first quarter (Panel P11) with detail listing and canvassing of visit 1 schedule in the selected households; where Pij indicates the panel belonging to jthquarter of the ith two-year period of rotation. ii. Another 25% FSUs will be covered in the second quarter (Panel P12) for taking up visit 1 schedule and revisit schedule will be canvassed in the selected households of Panel P11. iii. A new panel P13 of 25% FSUs will be surveyed in third quarter with visit 1 schedule andrevisit schedules will be nvassed in the households of panels P11 & P12. iv. In the fourth quarter, households of panels P11, P12 & P13 will be surveyed with revisit schedule and a new panel P14 with 25% FSUs for visit 1 schedule. v. In the subsequent quarters of second year 75% FSUs (3 panels - P12, P13 & P14) will be common and an earlier panel (P11) will be replaced by a new panel (P15) for canvassingvisit 1 schedule. This will continue till 8th quarter. vi. All the FSUs of the panels P11, P12, ...., P18 (each of which is with 25% of FSUs) will beselected before commencement of survey in the first quarter. vii. At the end of the second year of each two-year duration, updated frame will be used for both rural and urban areas. viii. FSUs of another set of panels P21, P22, ..., P28 selected from the updated frame will be made ready before commencement of first quarter of third year (first quarter of the second two year duration). These panels P21 to P28 will take care of the changes in the urban frame during the intracensal period. ix. In the ninth quarter (first quarter of the second two-year duration), panel P21 selected from the updated frame will be introduced and the panels P16, P17 and P18 of the old frame will be surveyed. x. This scheme will continue for another 2 years with the introduction of panels P22 to P28 each in one quarter for the subsequent 7 quarters till the end of the fourth year (second year of the two-year period). xi. This scheme of rotation of panels will enable generation of estimates of change parameters with 75% matching and 25% of unmatched samples from fifth quarter onwards. xii. One of the main advantages of this plan of rotation is that there will not be any break in the series of estimates of the change parameters starting from 5th quarter. xiii. Since major changes in the rural-urban frame occurs in the Census years (say for the year 2023-24), provision is to be made to generate estimates without break in the series of estimates considering panels from pre and post-census frames.

Rural samples For rural areas, samples for all the 8 quarters will be selected before commencement of survey for each two-year period, while the frame remains same for this duration. In each quarter, only 25% FSUs of annual allocation (as is done in each sub-round of NSS rounds) will be covered in rural areas so that independent estimates can be generated for each quarter. For this purpose, quarterly allocation will be multiple of 2 for drawing interpenetrating sub-samples

Mode of data collection

Face to Face

In 2024, the rate of surveyed unemployment in urban areas of China amounted to approximately 5.1 percent. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.1 percent in 2025 and the following years. Monthly unemployment ranged at a level of around 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025. Unemployment rate in China In 2017, the National Statistics Bureau of China introduced surveyed unemployment as a new indicator of unemployment in the country. It is based on monthly surveys among the labor force in urban areas of China. Surveyed unemployment replaced registered unemployment figures, which were often criticized for missing out large parts of the urban labor force and thereby not presenting a true picture of urban unemployment levels. However, current unemployment figures still do not include rural areas.A main concern in China’s current state of employment lies within the large regional differences. As of 2021, the unemployment rate in northeastern regions of China was notably higher than in China’s southern parts. In Beijing, China’s political and cultural center, registered unemployment ranged at around 3.2 percent for 2021. Indicators of economic activities Apart from the unemployment rate, most commonly used indicators to measure economic activities of a country are GDP growth and inflation rate. According to an IMF forecast, GDP growth in China will decrease to about four percent in 2025, after five percent in 2023, depicting a decrease of more than six percentage points from 10.6 percent in 2010. Quarterly growth data published by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated 5.4 percent GDP growth for the first quarter of 2025.

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment), unemployment rate, participation rate and employment rate by province, gender and age group. Data are presented for 12 months earlier, previous month and current month, as well as year-over-year and month-to-month level change and percentage change. Data are also available for the standard error of the estimate, the standard error of the month-to-month change and the standard error of the year-over-year change.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Monthly Unemployment Rate Total: 25 Years or over for G7 (G7LRHUADTTSTQ) from Q1 1991 to Q1 2025 about G7, 25 years +, harmonized, labor force, labor, and unemployment.

Abstract

The employment/unemployment data are required at very short intervals to monitor the program made in the employment generating policies of the government. To satisfy this need, Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey was designed as a quarterly basis survey to measure the levels and trends of employment, unemployment and labour force in Sri Lanka. Thus the survey is repeated four times each year since the first quarter of 1990.

Key objectives of the survey - To study the economically active / inactive population. - To analyze employment by major industry group and employment status. - To determine unemployment rates by level of education and by age group - To study the informal sector employment. - To determine the underemployment rates by sector and by major industries

Individuals from the population aged 10 years or more

Geographic coverage

National coverage. ( Excluding Nothern and Eastern provinces )

Analysis unit

Individuals from the population aged 10 years or more

Universe

Working age population (10 years and above) living in the non-institutional households in Sri Lanka

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Survey is conducted quarterly to produce estimates of employment, unemployment, labour force participation and basic demographic characteristics. The scope of coverage includes all households in Sri Lanka.

The list of housing units created for Demographic Survey 1994 were taken as sample frame. Sample lists were selected from the above frame taken as Primary Sampling Unit (PSU). A systematic Sample of 15 housing units per PSU was selected on final sampling units.

The total annual sample size is 15915 housing units equaly, distributed as 265 PSUs per each quarter and 15 housing units (SSUs) per PSU. The allocation to the domains aims at ensuring approximately equal of reliability from domain to domain.

The 1061 PSUs were selected by systematic Sampling from the PSUs created for Demographic Survey - 1994. A listing operation was conducted in each selected PSU to provide a frame for the second stage of selection. The selection of housing units within PSU was systematic with random start.

Sampling deviation

The field work of the above survey conducted in 2001 was confined to seven provinces of the country excluding the Northern and the Eastern provinces

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire covered questions under four main headings such as

Identification Information Control data Personal Information Labour force Information Questions common to all employed persons

Current survey concepts and methods are very similar to those introduced at the beginning of the survey in 1990. However, some changes have been made over the years to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the data. [Questionnaire is attached in the External Resources section].

Kosovo KS: Unemployment Rate: % Change over Previous Period data was reported at 1.325 % in Dec 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of -1.307 % for Sep 2017. Kosovo KS: Unemployment Rate: % Change over Previous Period data is updated quarterly, averaging 1.325 % from Jun 2016 (Median) to Dec 2017, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.272 % in Mar 2017 and a record low of -5.415 % in Jun 2016. Kosovo KS: Unemployment Rate: % Change over Previous Period data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Monetary Fund. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kosovo – Table KS.IMF.IFS: Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment: Quarterly.

Unemployment Rate in Canada remained unchanged at 6.90 percent in July. This dataset provides - Canada Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Unemployment Rate in South Africa increased to 33.20 percent in the second quarter of 2025 from 32.90 percent in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - South Africa Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Abstract

Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) designed a Labour Force Survey(LFS) on a quarterly basis to measure the levels and trends of employment, unemployment and labourforce in Sri Lanka on a continuous basis. This surveycommenced from the first quarter 1990 with USAID technical assistance and is being continuedby the DCS. Mainly, following information can be obtained by the survey. 1.The economically active / inactive from population. 2.Employment by major industry group and employment status. 3.Unemployment rates by level of education and by age group 4.The informal sector employment. 5.The underemployment rates by sector and by major industries 6.Total Jobs in Sri Lanka with Secondary Employment 7.Informal Employment in Sri Lanka 8.Literacy 9.Computer Literacy

Geographic coverage

National Coverage

Analysis unit

Individuals from the population aged 15 years or more

Universe

Working age population (15 years and above) living in the non-institutional households in Sri Lanka.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sampling plan and the sampling frame Two stage stratified sampling procedure is adopted to select a sample of 25,750 housing units to be enumerated at the survey. The sampling frame prepared for 2012 Census of Population and Housing is used as the sampling frame for the sample selection of LFS in 2023.

Sample size At the beginning in 1990, the sample size was 2,000 housing units per quarter in areas other than North and East, and the sample size was increased to 4,000 housing units per quarter in 1996 and continued thereafter. In 1992, 1997 and in 2004 an annual sample of 20,000 housing units was selected to give reliable estimates by district level. However, in order to provide district level estimates precisely, it was decided to use 20,000 -25,000 housing units as the annual sample from2006 to 2010. In 2022 25,750 Housing units were selected for the sample.

Sample Allocation In 2023, 2575 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were allocated to each district and to each sector(Urban, Rural and Estate) by using the Neymann allocation method which considers the variance of unemployment rate as usually. The allocated sample for each district then equally distributed for 12 months.

Selection of Primary Sampling Units(PSU) Primary sampling units are the census blocks prepared at the Census of Population and Housing - 2012.

Selection of Secondary Sampling Units (SSU) Secondary Sampling Units are the housing units in the selected 2575 primary sampling units (census blocks). From each selected primary sampling unit, 10 housing units (SSU) are selected for the survey using systematic random sampling method.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Survey Schedule and CAPI Programme Current survey concepts and methods are very Similar to those introduced at the beginning. However, some changes have been made over the years in 2006, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018 to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the data. The questionnaire is attached in the final report.

Cleaning operations

Data was processed by following 2 steps, 1. Feeding data to the CAPI system by enumerator. 2. Sending data to the head office through each district offices.

Computer edit check programs are used to capture unusual observations in the data files.

Sampling error estimates

The estimation procedure is given in the section 2.6 in the Annual Report.The Annual Report is attched in the External Resources Section.

Data appraisal

The adjustments for non-response is given in the section 2.7 in the Annual Report.The Annual Report is attched in the External Resources Section.

In 2023, it was estimated that over 161 million Americans were in some form of employment, while 3.64 percent of the total workforce was unemployed. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the 1950s, although these figures are expected to rise in 2023 and beyond. 1980s-2010s Since the 1980s, the total United States labor force has generally risen as the population has grown, however, the annual average unemployment rate has fluctuated significantly, usually increasing in times of crisis, before falling more slowly during periods of recovery and economic stability. For example, unemployment peaked at 9.7 percent during the early 1980s recession, which was largely caused by the ripple effects of the Iranian Revolution on global oil prices and inflation. Other notable spikes came during the early 1990s; again, largely due to inflation caused by another oil shock, and during the early 2000s recession. The Great Recession then saw the U.S. unemployment rate soar to 9.6 percent, following the collapse of the U.S. housing market and its impact on the banking sector, and it was not until 2016 that unemployment returned to pre-recession levels. 2020s 2019 had marked a decade-long low in unemployment, before the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the sharpest year-on-year increase in unemployment since the Great Depression, and the total number of workers fell by almost 10 million people. Despite the continuation of the pandemic in the years that followed, alongside the associated supply-chain issues and onset of the inflation crisis, unemployment reached just 3.67 percent in 2022 - current projections are for this figure to rise in 2023 and the years that follow, although these forecasts are subject to change if recent years are anything to go by.

Abstract

The employment/unemployment data are required at very short intervals to monitor the program made in the employment generating policies of the government. To satisfy this need, Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey was designed as a quarterly basis survey to measure the levels and trends of employment, unemployment and labour force in Sri Lanka. Thus the survey is repeated four times each year since the first quarter of 1990.

Key objectives of the survey - To study the economically active / inactive population. - To analyze employment by major industry group and employment status. - To determine unemployment rates by level of education and by age group - To study the informal sector employment. - To determine the underemployment rates by sector and by major industries

Geographic coverage

National coverage. ( Excluding Nothern and Eastern provinces )

Analysis unit

Individuals from the population aged 10 years or more

Universe

Working age population (10 years and above) living in the non-institutional households in Sri Lanka

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Survey is conducted quarterly to produce estimates of employment, unemployment, labour force participation and basic demographic characteristics. The scope of coverage includes all households in Sri Lanka.

The list of housing units created for Demographic Survey 1994 were taken as sample frame. Sample lists were selected from the above frame taken as Primary Sampling Unit (PSU). A systematic Sample of 15 housing units per PSU was selected on final sampling units.

The total annual sample size is 15915 housing units equaly, distributed as 265 PSUs per each quarter and 15 housing units (SSUs) per PSU. The allocation to the domains aims at ensuring approximately equal of reliability from domain to domain.

The 1061 PSUs were selected by systematic Sampling from the PSUs created for Demographic Survey - 1994. A listing operation was conducted in each selected PSU to provide a frame for the second stage of selection. The selection of housing units within PSU was systematic with random start.

Sampling deviation

The field of survey conducted in year 2000 was confined to seven province of the country excluding the Northern and the Eastern provinces due to the prevailing situation in the above two provinces.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The questionnaire covered questions under four main headings such as

Identification Information Control data Personal Information Labour force Information Questions common to all employed persons

Current survey concepts and methods are very similar to those introduced at the beginning of the survey in 1990. However, some changes have been made over the years to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the data. [Questionnaire is attached in the External Resources section].

Unemployment Rate in France remained unchanged at 7.50 percent in the second quarter of 2025 from 7.50 percent in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - France Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.