Commission Report (2002): Latvia

Labour force

The European Labour Force Survey is conducted in spring each year in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No. 577/98 of 9 March 1998. A detailed description of the sampling methods, the adjustment procedures, the definitions and the common Community coding currently used in the labour force survey is presented in the publications ``Labour Force Survey -- Methods and definitions, 1998` and ``Labour Force Survey in central and east European countries -- Methods and definitions, 2000`.

All definitions apply to persons aged 15 years and over, living in private households. The concepts and definitions used in the survey follow the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation. Persons carrying out obligatory military service are not included.

Persons in employment were those who during the reference week did any work for pay or profit for at least one hour, or were not working but had jobs from which they were temporarily absent. Family workers are included.

As from 2001 (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000 of 7 September 2000), unemployed persons comprise persons aged 15 to 74 who were:

1. without work during the reference week, i.e. neither had a job nor were at work (for one hour or more) in paid employment or self-employment;
2. currently available for work, i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment before the end of the two weeks following the reference week;
3. actively seeking work, i.e. had taken specific steps in the four weeks period ending with the reference week to seek paid employment or self-employment or who found a job to start later, i.e. within a period of at most three months.

Comparability with results prior to 2001: unemployment results used to refer to persons aged 15 and more. Persons who found a job to start later used to be considered as unemployed with the unique condition to have no job in the reference week; however, the new condition on time limit of at most three months is not yet applied.

Duration of unemployment is defined as:

1. the duration of search for a job, or
2. the length of the period since the last job was held (if this period is shorter than the duration of search for a job).

The active population is defined as the sum of persons in employment and unemployed persons.

Inactive persons are those who are not classified as persons in employment nor as unemployed persons.

Employment rates represent employed persons aged 15--64 as a percentage of the same age population.

Unemployment rates represent unemployed persons as a percentage of the active population aged 15 years and more.

Economic activity rates represent the active population aged 15--64 as a percentage of the population of the same age.

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