Egypt

Title of the survey:

Labour force sample survey.

Organization responsible for the survey:

Planning and conduct of the survey:

Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, CAPMAS.

Analysis and publication of the results:

CAPMAS.

Topics covered:

Employment, unemployment, hours of work, duration of employment, duration of unemployment, occasional workers, industry, current and past occupation, status in employment, and education level.

Coverage of the survey:

Geographical:

Whole country, including urban and rural areas.

Population groups:

Armed forces, foreigners, unsettled populations, and Egyptian nationals residing abroad are excluded.

Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:

No information provided.

Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:

None.

Periodicity:

Conduct of the survey:

Bi-annually.

Publication of results:

Annual.

Reference periods:

Employment:

Fixed reference week.

Seeking work:

Reference week.

Availability for work:

Reference week.

Concepts and definitions:

Employment:

Persons, 6 years old and over, who were engaged in a production or service activity, for one hour or more during the reference week, or had a formal job attachment but were temporary absent from work during the reference week due to illness or injury, vacation or annual leave, maternity, paternity or parental leave, educational or training leave, absence without leave, labour management dispute, bad weather, mechanical breakdown.

It includes:

  1. Persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week but were subject to compulsory schooling, retired and receiving a pension, registered as jobseekers at an employment office, or receiving unemployment benefits.
  2. Full or part-time students working full or part-time.
  3. Paid apprentices and trainees, and participants in employment promotion schemes.
  4. Persons engaged in production of goods for own final use.
Excluded are:
  1. Unpaid apprentices and trainees, persons engaged in production of services for their household.
  2. Unpaid family workers temporarily absent from work during the reference week and seasonal workers not at work during the offseason.
  3. Persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay and persons on unpaid leave initiated by the employer.

Unemployment:

Persons, 15 years old and over, not employed during the reference week, who were able and willing to work, and were looking for work during the reference week.

It includes:

  1. Persons without work and current available and looking for work who had made arrangements to start a new job on a date subsequent to the reference week.
  2. Persons without work and currently available and looking for work, who were trying to establish their own enterprise.
  3. Full or part-time students seeking full or part-time work.
  4. Persons who were seeking or available for work but were subject to compulsory schooling or retired and receiving a pension. Excluded are persons without work, available for work, but not seeking work during the reference week.

Underemployment:

Time-related underemployment:

Inadequate employment situations:

Hours of work:

Employment-related income:

Income from paid employment:

Income from self-employment:

Informal sector:

Usual activity:

Classifications:

Branch of economic activity (industry):

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by industry:

Employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience.

Number of groups used for coding:

18 categories.

Links to ISIC:

ISIC-Rev.3.

Occupation:

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by occupation:

Employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience.

Number of groups used for coding:

10 major groups.

Links to ISCO:

ISCO-88.

Status in employment:

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by status in employment:

Employed persons only.

Groups used for classification:

Employee. Employer. Own-account worker. Unpaid family worker.

Links to ICSE:

ICSE-1993.

Education:

Title of the classification:

No information.

Population groups classified by education:

Employed and unemployed persons.

Groups used for classification:

Illiterate. Can read and write. Less than intermediate. Intermediate school completed. Above intermediate. University and higher.

Links to ISCED:

Certain groups linked to ISCED.

Sample size and design:

Ultimate sampling unit:

Housing unit (composed of one or more households).

Sample size (ultimate sampling units):

41,660 housing units divided equally between two yearly rounds (May and November).

Overall sampling fraction:

6%.

Sample frame:

Master sample based on 1995 data. Two-stage sampling. In the first stage, primary sampling units covering about 1,500 households are selected systematically, 261 PSUs in urban areas and 185 PSUs in rural areas. In the second stage, 95 housing units are selected in each urban or rural sample PSU.

Updating of the sample:

No updating has been carried out yet.

Rotation:

Scheme:

Not applicable.

Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:

Not applicable.

Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:

Not applicable.

Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:

Not applicable.

Field work:

Type of interview:

Personal interview.

Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:

95 housing units.

Duration of field work:

Total:

28 days for the May round (1st to 28 June) and 28 days for the November round (1st to 28 December).

Per sample area:

No information provided.

Survey organization:

Permanent.

Number of field staff:

About 210 interviewers and 70 supervisors.

Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:

No.

Estimation and adjustments:

Total non-response rate:

1.7%.

Adjustment for total non-response:

Yes.

Imputation for item non-response:

No.

Adjustment for areas/population not covered:

No.

Adjustment for undercoverage:

No.

Adjustment for overcoverage:

No.

Adjustment for seasonal variations:

No.

History of the survey:

Title and date of the first survey:

Labour force sample survey, November 1957.

Significant changes or revisions:

Surveys conducted between 1957 to 1964 totaled 24 rounds with different periodicities. From 1968 to 1985, the survey was conducted annually. From 1987 to 1992, quarterly. Since 1993, it is conducted bi-annually. In census years, the survey was not conducted. The surveys carried out between 1987 and 1992 covered two additional topics: usual activity and secondary jobs.

Documentation and dissemination:

Documentation:

Survey results:

Annual Bulletin of Labour Force Sample Survey of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Survey methodology:

In Annual Bulletin.

Dissemination:

Time needed for initial release of survey results:

One year. Latest data for 1998, published on 30 December 1999.

Advance information of public about date of initial release:

No.

Availability of unpublished data upon request:

No information provided.

Availability of data in machine-readable form:

Tabulated data available in diskettes on request. Internet dissemination envisaged for the future.

Website:

http://www.capmas.gov.eg/.