Portugal

1.Series

Title:

Number of job-seekers and Number of unemployed jobseekers.

Starting year:

1967.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Instituto de Emprego e Formação Professional - IEPF (Institute of Employment and Vocational Training).

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Ministry of Social Security and Labour.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

All over the country. 86 Employment Agencies located in the five regions of the continental part of the country, plus one agency in the autonomous region of Madeira and three agencies in the autonomous region of the Azores (the agencies of the two autonomous regions do not report directly to the IEFP, but to autonomous regional services; however, the statistics are consolidated by the IEFP).

These agencies also establish "employment units", which may or may not be permanent, depending on criteria such as the population density or the number of registered unemployed. Presently, there are almost 150 of such units.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

  • Assisting job-seekers to find jobs;
  • Assisting job-seekers to establish their own business;
  • Assisting employers to find workers;
  • Vocational guidance;
  • Job-related training;
  • Paying unemployment compensation: the IEFP is responsible for these payments, but co-operates with Social Security in order to monitor the active predisposition of beneficiaries for integration in the labour market.

    Percentage of job-seekers seeking work through the agency:

    49% (end 2001; source: National Statistical Institute, "Employment Survey").

    3.The following information is registered about a person:

  • Name;
  • Sex;
  • Social security number (or similar identification number also used by other agencies);
  • Address of usual residence;
  • Date of birth;
  • Nationality;
  • Educational/vocational attainment, with 11 categories distinguished. Links to ISCED have not been established. However, the national classification of educational domains, reviewed in February 2001, has direct links with the ISCED-97;
  • Current/past activity status, with seven categories distinguished;
  • Type of work (occupation) of past or present job with 355 categories distinguished (unit groups level). Links to ISCO-88 have been established (unit groups level);
  • Type of work (occupation) of job sought, with 355 categories distinguished (unit groups level);
  • Name and address of present or previous employer or work place;
  • Type of business (industry) of present/previous employer/workplace, with 715 categories distinguished. Links to ISIC, rev.3 have been established (divisions level); and to the NACE, rev.1 (classes level);
  • Previous registrations with the agency/service;
  • Other: Identification of handicapped persons and of the type of handicap, for example.

    4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Being without work (R) and (S);
  • Seeking dependant work (a request for financial or technical support to create own enterprise is not considered as a request for employment) (R) and (S);
  • Availability for work within a maximum of 15 days following the date of registration (R) and (S);
  • Age (lower limit: 16 years; no upper limit) (R) and (S);
  • Being resident in the country (i.e. obligation to present either an identification document proving that he/she is a resident of Portugal, generally an identity card, or, for non-nationals from non-EEA (European Economic Area) member countries, a residence permit issued by the Department dealing with foreigners and frontiers (R) and (S);
  • Applicants have to respect the following obligations: accept any employment offer considered as suitable; comply with the checks made by the Employment Agencies; accept the "personal employment plan" agreed by the agency and the applicant as the most suitable with regard to his/her personal and professional profile, and with the aim of his/her integration into the labour market.
  • Unemployed receiving unemployment compensation: also have to accept any job considered of general public utility; accept vocational training offered; actively seek work.

    5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Death (R) and (S);
  • Taking up residency abroad (R) and (S);
  • Commencement of a (new) job (R) and (S);
  • Commencement of military service (R) and (S);
  • Participation in an employment promotion scheme (R) and (S);
  • Participation to a public works programme (R) and (S);
  • Studying or undergoing training. This can be a vocational training course or a training-employment programme, and may be promoted by the IEFP (R) and (S);
  • Failure to contact the agency: non-attendance without a valid reason following a summoning (either for suitable job offers, vocational training, public utility work, or for a simple presence check) leads to exclusion after the second summoning; equally, not replying to a postal check leads to the exclusion after one month for beneficiaries, and after two months for non beneficiaries (R) and (S);
  • Refusal of a suitable job offer (R) and (S);
  • Refusal of a suitable training offer (R) and (S);
  • Inability to work: total disability due to sickness (be it temporary or permanent), excludes the possibility of registration as a jobseeker or as unemployed. Disability due to invalidity excludes a person from registration only in case of total invalidity (be it temporary or permanent), applicable to all suitable (or adaptable) occupations, certified by the occupational medicine department of the employment agencies and, in the case of beneficiaries of unemployment compensation, confirmed by the Department of Verification of disabilities (SVI) (R) and (S).

    6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

    Is considered as "unemployed" any applicant registered with an employment agency who is without work, looking for work as a dependent worker, immediately available and able to work.

    "Immediately available" means that the applicant must commit him/herself to accepting a job within a maximum of 15 days from the day of his/her registration. After this period, acceptance of the job must be immediate.

    "Able to work" means that the applicant must prove that he/she has the ability (physical, mental and professional) required to perform a professional activity, and that there is no disability due to sickness.

    7.Updating of the registers

    The registers are updated regularly, on a continuous basis.

    8.Unemployment rates

    Statistics from the registers are not used to obtain unemployment rates.

    9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

    Reference period:

    Month.

    Frequency of production:

    Monthly.

    Descriptive variables used:

  • Sex;
  • Age;
  • Educational level;
  • Occupation;
  • Industry;
  • Geographic characteristics;
  • Citizenship (nationals/non nationals);
  • Duration of unemployment: duration of registration as jobseeker in an employment agency;
  • Other: employment status; looking for a first job/looking for a new job.

    Form of publication:

  • On paper, for general audience;
  • Machine-readable form, on request;
  • On a website: http://www.iefp.pt/estatisticas/estatmercemp.htm

    Agency responsible for publication:

    IEFP.

    Title and periodicity of the publications:

    Monthly information on the labour market; The labour market - monthly statistics; The employment agencies - monthly statistics; Municipalities - registered unemployment statistics and corrected ratios of registered unemployment - quarterly statistics; Evolution and situation of local labour markets - quarterly statistics; The labour market - annual report.

    10.Methodological information about the statistics

    Form of publication:

  • On paper, for general audience;
  • Machine-readable form, on request;
  • On a website: http://www.iefp.pt/estatisticas/estatmercemp.htm

    Agency responsible for publication:

    IEFP.

    11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

    Comparisons have been made with unemployment statistics from the labour force survey, from other household surveys and from the population census.

    Frequency of the comparisons:

    Regularly.

    Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

    They have not been published.

    12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

    There have been no major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures which had a significant influence on the statistics.