Labour Force Survey www.statcan.gc.ca Telling Canada’s story in numbers Marie-Josée Major Labour Statistics Division DLI Workshop Kamloops, British Columbia November 28th, 2017

LFS Background 1945 1952 1960 1966 Estimates for all 10 provinces LFS is developed as a quarterly survey 1952 First monthly estimates 1960 Offical source of Unemployment Rate 1966 Estimates for all 10 provinces 1970 Telephone interviewing 17/04/2019

1989 Integrated weighting is used LFS Background 1976 Redesign : concepts, questionnaire, population, sample, electronic submission of results 1989 Integrated weighting is used 1991 Yukon as a pilot survey 1997 Redesign: new content, questionnaire restructure, optimization of computer-assisted interviewing Today Sample size of approximately 56,000 households and 110,000 people 17/04/2019

LFS Basics: Respondent Classification Employed Did any work or had a job, but was not at work Unemployed Without work, but available and looking Not in the labour market Neither employed, nor looking for work 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Target Population and Exclusions Target population: population aged 15 years and older Persons living on reserve or other Aboriginal settlements Institutionalized population Households in extremely remote areas with very low population density Full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces ~2% 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: National Estimates Prince Edward Island Yukon British Columbia Northwest Territories Nunavut 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Sampling Address Register Based on decennial Census; updated every 10 years Unemployment rate Reliable estimates at the national, provincial and sub provincial levels Additional sample Targeting specific sub-populations in Manitoba, Alberta and British-Columbia 17/04/2019

Questions? 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Data Collection Demographic information All persons for whom the dwelling is their usual place of residence Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Electronic Questionnaire (EQ) Labour force information Civilian household members 15 years and over 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Sample Rotation Panel 1 Panel 2 Panel 3 Panel 4 Panel 5 Panel 6 Exiting Panel 6-month rotation 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Sample Rotation Panel A Interviewed Panel B Panel C 2-year monthly rotation 17/04/2019

LFS Methodology: Weighting 17/04/2019x

Modes of Access to LFS Microdata Confidential microdata files, minus Aboriginal and immigrant status Real Time Remote Access Complete confidential microdata files Secured settings Approved researchers Analytic output vetted before release Research Data Centres Public use microdata files Virtually anytime, anywhere Staff and students of post-secondary institutions Addition of ‘noise’, capping, aggregation and suppression of variables as protection measures Data Liberation Initiative 17/04/2019

LFS PUMF Variables All respondents Socio-demographic characteristics Age Sex Marital status Education Age of youngest child Economic family type Geography 17/04/2019

LFS PUMF Variables Employed Main job Class of worker Occupation Industry Job tenure and permanency Union coverage Hours worked Full-/part-time status Earnings Establishment and firm size Second job Unemployed Reason for job leaving Duration of unemployment Type of work sought Job search methods Activity prior to unemployment Information on last job Not in the labour force Interest in working 17/04/2019

What’s New for 2017 LFS PUMFs: Variables Added, Expanded, or Re-introduced Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA): expanded to nine CMAs Occupation (NOC_10 and NOC_40): reintroduced and updated Immigrant status (IMMIG): new Labour Force Status (LFSSTAT): collapsed to four categories Industry (NAICS_21): only one variable, instead of two Age of the youngest child in the household (AGYOWNK): collapsed to four categories School attendance (SCHOOLN): collapsed to three categories indicative of student status only 17/04/2019

What Distinguishes the LFS PUMFs from LFS Confidential Microdata Files? Replicate weights are available More detail for occupation and industry Aboriginal status is included Respondents can be linked longitudinally across months Released monthly Age and age of youngest child is grouped Continuous variables are “capped” Historical series for occupation is disrupted 17/04/2019

Annualizing Monthly LFS Data: How-To STEP 3 Apply the weight variable, and calculate estimates as you would using a single month of data STEP 2 Divide the weight variable by 12 STEP 1 For a given calendar year, stack or append its 12 months of data 17/04/2019

For More Information Supporting documentation: Questions? Comments? Guide to the Labour Force Survey (2016), 71-543-G Methodology of the Canadian Labour Force Survey (2008), 71-526-X History of the Canadian Labour Force Survey, 1945 to 2016 (2017), 75-005-M 2017 Changes to the Labour Force Survey Public Use Microdata Files (2017) Questions? Comments? marie-josee.major@canada.ca 17/04/2019