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Comparison of 2001 Census and Labour Force Survey labour market data
The Labour Force Survey and the Census both provide information on the labour market within the UK. The differences between estimates from these sources are examined here.
Author: Daniel Heap
Labour Market Trends, vol 113, no 1, pp 33 - 48. ISSN: 1361-4819
This article considers the main differences between labour market indicators from the 2001 Census and the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
The LFS for spring 2001 shows higher numbers of economically active people compared with the 2001 Census. It also shows fewer economically inactive people and fewer unemployed people. These differences are largely attributable to differences in how the information is gathered in the two sources.
Differences between the LFS and the Census are greatest when smaller populations (for example, ethnic groups) are considered. This is illustrated here and some guidance is provided on preferred sources of labour market data for various levels of analysis.
Published in web format: 13 January 2005 at 9:30 am
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