Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) – Quarterly Bulletin [July-September2021]

Posted On: 22 MAR 2022 5:18PM by PIB Delhi

A.         Introduction

Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.

The objective of PLFS is primarily twofold:

  • to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).
  • to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

On the basis of the data collected in PLFS, three Annual Reports of PLFS corresponding to the periods July 2017 - June 2018, July 2018 - June 2019 and July 2019 - June 2020 covering both rural and urban areas giving estimates of all important parameters of employment and unemployment in both usual status (ps+ss) and current weekly status (CWS) have been released.

Besides these Annual Reports, eleven Quarterly Bulletins of PLFS corresponding to the quarter ending December 2018 to quarter ending June 2021have already been released. In these quarterly bulletins estimates of labour force indicators, viz., Worker population ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), distribution of workers by broad status in employment and industry of workin the Current Weekly Status (CWS) for urban areas have been presented.

The present Quarterly Bulletin is the twelfth in the series for the quarter July - September2021.

PLFS fieldwork during COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the 2nd wave of Covid-19, the field work of PLFS was suspended from 19.04.2021 in most parts of the country. The field work was gradually resumed in the first week of June 2021 with due adherence to the Covid related restrictions. Collection of information in respect of the allotted samples for the quarter July-September 2021 was completed by 09.12.2021 (for first visit) and by 30.09.2021 (for revisit). First visit samples were canvassed physically with retrospective referencing in case of delayed samples; whereas the revisit samples were canvassed telephonically hence were completed as per scheduled timelines.

B.         Sample Design of PLFS

A rotational panel sampling design has been used in urban areas. In this rotational panel scheme, each selected household in urban areas is visited four times, in the beginning with ‘First Visit Schedule’ and thrice periodically later with a ‘Revisit Schedule’. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75% of the first-stage sampling units (FSUs)[1] are matched between two consecutive visits.

C.         Sample Size

At the all-India level, in the urban areas, a total number of 5,676 FSUs (UFS blocks) have been surveyed during the quarter July – September2021. The number of urban households surveyed was 44,272and number of persons surveyed was 1,71,405in urban areas.

  1. Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators for the Quarterly Bulletin: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc. These indicators, and ‘Current Weekly Status’ are defined as follows:
  2. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage ofpersons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work)in the population.
  3. Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed personsin the population.
  4. Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployedamong the persons in the labour force.
  5. Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.
  6. The Quarterly Bulletin for the quarter July – September 2021is available at the website of the Ministry (https://mospi.gov.in). The key results are given in the statements annexed.

Annexure

Key Findings of PLFS, Quarterly Bulletin (July – September2021)

 

Statement 1:  LFPR (in per cent) in CWS in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above

all‑India

NSS survey period

Male

Female

Person

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

July – September 2020

73.5

20.3

  47.2

October – December 2020

73.6

20.6

47.3

January – March 2021

73.5

21.2

47.5

April – June 2021

73.1

20.1

46.8

July – September 2021

73.5

19.9

46.9


 

Statement 2WPR (in per cent) in CWS in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above

all‑India

NSS survey period

Male

Female

Person

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

July – September 2020

64.3

17.1

40.9

October – December 2020

66.7

17.9

42.4

January – March 2021

67.2

18.7

43.1

April – June 2021

64.2

17.2

40.9

July – September 2021

66.6

17.6

42.3

 

 

Statement 3UR (in per cent) in CWS in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above

all‑India

NSS survey period

Male

Female

Person

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

July – September 2020

12.6

   15.8

         13.2

October – December 2020

9.5

13.1

10.3

January – March 2021

8.6

11.8

9.3

April – June 2021

12.2

14.3

12.6

July – September 2021

9.3

11.6

9.8

 

*****

DS/VJ

 


[1]Urban Frame Survey Blocks (UFS) are the smallest area units taken as first-stage sampling units (FSU) in urban areas for PLFS.



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