Timor-Leste Labour Force Survey 2013

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2013 is the second such survey that has been carried out in Timor-Leste since the country became independent in 2002. The LSF, which took place over the course of two years between 2013 and 2014, did a survey over a sample of 780 households throughout the territory. The primary objective of LFS 2013 was to provide current data on the employment and unemployment situation at national and sub-national level. The LSF covers important information on the labor force related issues such employment, unemployment, seasonal employment, formal no non-formal employment.

The key finding of the survey is that the unemployment rate was 11% in 2013, of which 22% were young people age between 15-24. The 23,400 people were classified as unemployed, as during the survey reference period, they had no job but were available and actively looking for work. The service sector employed nearly half of the labor force, followed by agriculture, while industry sector absorbed only 13%. Labor force participation increased, albeit not much compared to the previous LFS.
A significant change in the methodology introduced was the use of the new international standards concerning the statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (Geneva, October 2013).

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