Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

Part of:  GS Prelims 

In News: On the basis of the data collected in PLFS, the quarterly bulletin for the quarter October- December 2020 has been released.

Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.

• To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
• To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators for the Quarterly Bulletin: 

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rates (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc. These indicators, and the and ‘Current Weekly Status’ are defined as follows:

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population. (Male: 73.6, Female: 20.6; Total: 47.3)
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population. (Male: 66.7, Female: 17.9; Total: 42.4)
• Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force. (Male: 9.5, Female: 13.1; Total: 10.3)

News Source: PIB