Pakistan
Title of the survey:
Labour force survey.
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Federal Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.
Analysis and publication of the results:
Federal Bureau of Statistics.
Topics covered:
Employment, unemployment, underemployment, hours of work, wages, informal sector employment, duration of unemployment, industry, occupation, status in employment, education level, and secondary jobs.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
All urban and rural areas of the four provinces of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir as defined by the 1981 Population Census excluding FATA % Military restricted areas, the districts of Kohistan, Malakand and the protected areas of the North West Frontier Province.
Population groups:
Un-settled population, Defense personnel, Foreigners, and Nationals residing abroad are excluded.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
The population excluded from the geographical coverage constitutes about 4% of the total population.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
Not applicable.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
Annual.
Publication of results:
Annual.
Reference periods:
Employment:
Moving reference week.
Seeking work:
Reference week.
Availability for work:
Reference week.
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
Persons, 10 years old and over, who worked at least one hour during the reference week and were either "paid employed" or "self-employed". Persons, employed on permanent footing, who had not worked for any reason during the reference week are treated as employed.
It includes:
- Persons reporting housekeeping or other related activities, but having spent time on specified agricultural and non-agricultural activities.
- Persons with a job but temporary absent for any reason, and persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay.
- Persons who performed some work for pay or profit during the reference week but were subject to compulsory schooling, retired and receiving a pension, or unemployment benefits, or were registered as jobseekers at an employment office or were seeking other work during the reference week.
- Full or part-time students working full or part-time.
- Paid apprentices and trainees, and participants in employment promotion schemes.
- Unpaid family workers at work or temporary absent from work.
- Persons engaged in production of goods for own final use.
- Seasonal workers not at work during the off-season.
Excluded are:
- Unpaid apprentices and trainees.
- Persons engaged in production of services for their household.
- Persons engaged in immoral pursuits such as prostitution, begging, stealing and smuggling.
- Voluntary social workers doing work outside the family enterprise.
Unemployment:
Persons, 10 years old and over, who during the reference week were: i) "without work" i.e. were not in paid employment or self-employment; ii) "currently available for work" i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment during the reference week; and iii) "seeking work" i.e. had taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment.
It includes:
- 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.
- Persons without work and currently available and looking for work who were trying to establish their own enterprise.
- Persons without work, available for work, but not seeking work during the a recent period due to specific reasons. d) Full or part-time students seeking full or part-time work.
- Persons who were seeking or available for work but were subject to compulsory schooling or retired and receiving a pension.
Excluded are:
Persons on temporary or indefinite lay-off without pay.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
Employed persons who during the reference period satisfied simultaneously the following three criteria: i) were working less than normal duration (i.e. less than 35 hours per week), ii) were doing so on an involuntary basis, and iii) were seeking or being available for additional work.
Inadequate employment situations:
See above.
Hours of work:
The number of hours worked in the last week subsequent to the date of interview at the main and subsidiary occupations. Employment related income:
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Gross income of employees at their main and subsidiary occupations.
Income from self-employment:
No information.
Informal sector:
All household enterprises owned and operated by own-account workers, irrespective of the size of the enterprise (informal own-account enterprises) and household enterprises owned and operated by employers with less than 10 persons engaged. Excluded are all household enterprises engaged in agricultural activities or wholly engaged in non-market production.
Usual activity:
No information.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
Pakistan Standard Industrial Classification PSIC-1970.
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience.
Number of groups used for coding:
2-digit level codes, but published at 1-digit level.
Links to ISIC:
ISIC-Rev.2.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
Pakistan Standard Classification of Occupations, PSCO-1994.
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience.
Number of groups used for coding:
2-digit level codes, but published at 1-digit level.
Links to ISCO:
ISCO-68.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
No information.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed and unemployed persons with previous work experience.
Groups used for classification:
Employer, Self-employed, Unpaid family helper, and Employee.
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:
No formal education. Below Matric. Matric but less than intermediate. Intermediate but less than degree. Degree and above.
Links to ISCED:
Not specified.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Household.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
22,272 households (10,368 in urban areas and 11,904 in rural areas).
Overall sampling fraction:
1/465 in urban areas and 1/1,119 in rural areas.
Sample frame:
Two types of frame are used: list frame and area frame. The 1981 Population Census enumeration blocks and villages are used as primary sampling units.
Updating of the sample:
The list of enumeration blocks has been updated in 1995. The urban area frame was developed by a Quick Count Record Survey in 1972 and is being updated every five years.
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:
No information provided.
Duration of field work:
Total:
From 1st July 1996 to 30th June 1997.
Per sample area:
No information provided.
Survey organization:
Permanent.
Number of field staff:
About 68 enumerators and 34 supervisors.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
No information provided.
Adjustment for total non-response:
No.
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 Survey (July 1963 to June 1964).
Significant changes or revisions:
From 1967-68, households located in institutions (jails, asylums, hotels, messes, etc.) are included. Also, beggar households with a member working for pay or profit are also included.
Since 1978-79, unpaid family helpers working less than 15 hours a week are treated as employed. To improve the measurement of employment and unemployment, several probing questions were incorporated in the questionnaire on a) willingness to work if a job is provided, b) reason for not looking for work, and c) any work for pay or profit addressed to persons reporting as "housekeeper" or "student".
In 1990-91, more probing questions were incorporated in the questionnaire in line with the requirements of the ILO 1982 resolution. In particular, a special probing section on economic activity was designed for persons 10 years of age and above who reported housekeeping and other related activities. In 1995, questions on migration and formal and informal sector characteristics were introduced.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
Report of the Labour Force Survey.
Survey methodology:
Report of the Labour Force Survey.
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
About 16 months. Data from survey conducted 1st July 1996 to 30th June 1997 released in October 1998.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
No.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
Yes.
Website: