Norway

Title of the survey:

Labour Force Survey.

Organization responsible for the survey:

Planning and conduct of the survey:

Statistics Norway.

Analysis and publication of the results:

Statistics Norway.

Topics covered:

Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, duration of employment and unemployment, discouraged workers, occasional workers, industry, occupation, status in employment, education/qualification levels, usual activity, second jobs, temporary employment, as well as other topics, corresponding to EUROSTAT’s labour force surveys program.

Coverage of the survey:

Geographical:

Whole country.

Population groups:

All persons aged 16 to 74 years residing in the country.

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

Not applicable.

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

None.

Periodicity:

Conduct of the survey:

Continuous survey.

Publication of results:

Quarterly.

Reference periods:

Employment:

One fixed week.

Seeking work:

Four weeks.

Availability for work:

Two weeks.

Concepts and definitions:

Employment:

All persons aged 16 to 74 who performed work for pay or profit for at least one hour in the reference week, or who were temporarily absent from work because of illness, holidays, etc. Included are persons on paid leave, or unpaid leave until one year, if they still have a job to return to, unpaid family workers, conscripts, as well as persons engaged by Government measures to promote employment, if they receive pay.

It includes:

  1. persons with a job but temporarily absent from work due to illness or injury, vacation or annual leave, maternity, paternity or parental leave until one year (unless it is still paid), educational or training leave until one year (unless it is still paid), absence without leave if this person has a job and a date of return, labour management dispute, bad weather or mechanical breakdown, etc.;
  2. full- or part-time workers seeking other work during the reference week;
  3. persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week while subject to compulsory schooling, retired and receiving a pension, registered as jobseekers at an employment office or receiving unemployment benefits;
  4. full-time or part-time students working full-time or part-time; e) paid apprentices and trainees;
  5. participants in employment promotion schemes receiving pay by their employers;
  6. unpaid family workers at work during the reference week or temporarily absent from work, if not seasonal work. h) volunteers and career members of the armed forces, conscripts and persons in civilian service equivalent to military service.

Unemployment:

All persons aged 16 to 74 years who were not employed during the survey week, who have been seeking work during the last four weeks and were available within the next two weeks. Prior to 1996, they have to be available during the survey week.

Also included are:

  1. persons on temporary lay-off without pay;
  2. persons without work and currently available for work who have made arrangements to start a new job on a date subsequent to the reference week or who were trying to establish their own enterprise;
  3. persons without work, available for work, but not seeking work during the reference week but awaiting answer from the employer, if seeking work five to eight weeks ago;
  4. persons who were seeking work and available to work but were subject to compulsory schooling, retired and receiving a pension, if they were seeking work one to four weeks ago and were available to work within the next two weeks;
  5. part- and full-time students seeking full- or part-time work, is they were seeking work one to four weeks ago and available to work within the next two weeks.

Underemployment:

Time-related underemployment:

Part-time workers seeking longer regular (or usual) working hours of work per week and who were able to start with increased working hours within a month.

Inadequate employment situations:

Persons looking for another job because of:
  1. risk or certainty of loss or termination of present job;
  2. actual job is considered as a transitional job;
  3. seeking a second job;
  4. wish to have better working conditions (working or travel time, quality of work);
  5. wish higher pay;
  6. other reasons.

Hours of work:

They refer both to hours actually worked and regular (or usual) hours per week. Main and secondary jobs are covered separately. The distinction between part- and full-time work is done on the basis of total regular working hours in the main and secondary employment.

Employment-related income:

Income from paid employment:

Not covered by the survey.

Income from self-employment:

Not covered by the survey.

Informal sector:

Not covered by the survey.

Usual activity:

Not covered by the survey.

Classifications:

Branch of economic activity (industry):

Title of the classification:

National classification.

Population groups classified by industry:

Employed and unemployed persons (industry of the last job for the unemployed).

Number of groups used for coding:

60 groups.

Links to ISIC:

ISIC-Rev.3 at the 2-digit level.

Occupation:

Title of the classification:

National classification.

Population groups classified by occupation:

Employed and unemployed persons (occupation of the last job for the unemployed).

Number of groups used for coding:

353 groups.

Links to ISCO:

ISCO-88.

Status in employment:

Title of the classification:

National classification

Population groups classified by status in employment:

Employed and unemployment persons (status of the last job for the unemployed).

Groups used for classification:

Four groups: employees, employers, self-employed and unpaid family members.

Links to ICSE:

ICSE-1993.

Education:

Title of the classification:

National classification.

Population groups classified by education:

Employed and unemployed persons.

Groups used for classification:

Five levels: primary school, level 1 of secondary school, level 2 of secondary school, university levels of one to four years and five years and more respectively. In addition, there are nine fields (programs) of study.

Links to ISCED:

ISCED-1976.

Sample size and design:

Ultimate sampling unit:

Family unit.

Sample size (ultimate sampling units):

24,000 persons per quarter.

Overall sampling fraction:

0.8 per cent.

Sample frame:

Central Population Register, which is updated on a continuous basis by the local population registration offices.

Updating of the sample:

Each quarter, 1/8 of the sample is renewed.

Rotation:

Scheme:

Each household participates in the survey eight times over a period of eight consecutive quarters.

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

87.5 per cent.

Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:

Eight.

Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:

Eight quarters.

Field work:

Type of interview:

Mostly by telephone and for a few by personal interview (CAPI).

Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:

From about 800 to 2,500 per county, and there are 19 counties.

Duration of field work:

Total:

Two or three weeks after the survey week.

Per sample area:

No information provided.

Survey organization:

A permanent organization.

Number of field staff:

About 160 persons.

Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:

No.

Estimation and adjustments:

Total non-response rate:

About 10 per cent.

Adjustment for total non-response:

Yes (in the estimating procedure).

Imputation for item non-response:

Yes.

Adjustment for areas/population not covered:

Not applicable.

Adjustment for undercoverage:

Not applicable.

Adjustment for overcoverage:

Not applicable.

Adjustment for seasonal variations:

Yes. (X12-ARIMA method).

History of the survey:

Title and date of the first survey:

Labour Force Survey, 1st quarter 1972.

Significant changes or revisions:

New questionnaires introduced in 1988 and in 1996.

Documentation and dissemination:

Documentation:

Survey results:

Labour Market Statistics (annual).

Survey methodology:

Labour Market Statistics (annual).

Dissemination:

Time needed for initial release of survey results:

Beginning of the month following the quarter surveyed.

Advance information of public about date of initial release:

Yes.

Availability of unpublished data upon request:

Yes.

Availability of data in machine-readable form:

Diskettes, Internet.

Website:

http://www.ssb.no/.