Tunisia

1.Series

Title:

Labour Market.

Starting year:

Available on paper since 1995 (possibly before). Available in electronic format since 1997.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Agence tunisienne de l'Emploi - ATE (Tunisian Employment Agency).

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Ministry of Employment.

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

All over the country, 80 offices in the 24 main administrative divisions (gouvernorats).

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;

Other: services related to the insertion of young people and the reinsertion of workers who have been laid off; organisation and administration of work-experience programmes, professional information, assistance and accompaniment sessions, etc.

Percentage of job-seekers seeking work through the agency:

25% to 30% (more than 80% of those with higher education diplomas).

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;

Citizenship;

Nationality;

Educational/vocational attainment, with eight categories distinguished. Links to ISCED have been established;

Current/past activity status, with three categories distinguished: employed, previously employed and never worked;

Type of work (occupation) of past or present job with nine categories distinguished. Links to ISCO-88 have not been established;

Type of work (occupation) of job sought, with nine categories distinguished;

Name and address of present or previous employer or work place;

Type of business (industry) of present/previous employer/workplace, with 10 categories distinguished. Links to ISIC have not been established;

Previous registrations with the agency/service.

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

Seeking work (R) and (S);

Age (lower limit: 18 years; 15 years for vocational guidance; no upper age limit) (R) and (S);

Citizenship (identity card, or residence permit and work permit for foreigners) (R).

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

Taking up residency abroad (R);

Commencement of a (new) job or creation of a microenterprise for example (R);

Commencement of military service (R);

Participation in an employment promotion scheme, public works programme, etc (R);

Studying or undergoing training (R);

Failure to contact the agency/service, automatically after two months of absence (R).

6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

The statistics of the Tunisian Employment Agency are based on persons declaring to be looking for employment and registered in one of the 80 offices. They may be unemployed or employed but seeking a better job.

7.Updating of the registers

The registers are updated regularly (automatically by the system).

8.Unemployment rates

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

9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

Series 1:

Reference period:

Day.

Frequency of production:

Daily.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level, diploma, subject studied;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Duration of waiting;

Office of registration;

Gouvernorat.

Form of publication:

For internal use only;

On a website: www.emploi.nat.tn.

Agency responsible for publication:

ATE.

Title of the publication:

Indicateurs d’activité (Activity indicators), available free of charge.

Series 2:

Reference period:

Month.

Frequency of production:

Monthly.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Duration of waiting;

Office of registration;

Gouvernorat.

Form of publication:

For internal use;

On paper, for limited audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

ATE.

Title and periodicity of the publication:

Evolution du marché de l'emploi au cours du mois (Evolution of the labour market during the current month), monthly.

Series 3:

Reference period:

Month.

Frequency of production:

Quarterly and yearly.

Descriptive variables used:

Sex;

Age;

Educational level;

Occupation;

Industry;

Geographic characteristics;

Previous work experience;

Duration of waiting;

Office of registration;

Gouvernorat.

Form of publication:

For internal use;

On paper, for limited audience.

Agency responsible for publication:

ATE.

Title and periodicity of the publications:

Rapport trimestriel et rapport annuel sur l'activité de l'ATE (Quarterly report and Yearly report on the activity of the ATE).

10.Methodological information about the statistics

Form of release:

Not released, for internal use;

On paper, for limited audience;

On a website: www.emploi.nat.tn;

Consultation on the spot - general audience.

Agency responsible for the release:

ATE.

11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

Comparisons have been made with unemployment statistics from the labour force survey, other household surveys and the population census. These statistics are used, on the one hand, to evaluate the penetration of the employment services in the labour market, and on the other hand, to help the managers of the ATE to target their interventions towards the more vulnerable populations.

Frequency of the comparisons:

Yearly in relation to the population-employment survey (INS).

12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

Major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures took place in 1995. Since the creation of the ATE in 1993, and particularly since the introduction of a computerized system of management of the employment market in 1995, the data on job-seekers have become more and more accurate. The coverage of job-seekers at the management level is becoming greater and more representative.