A.         Introduction

1. Addressing job creation and issues related to employment-unemployment have been important priorities of the Government. Several Ministries,Departments and agencies collect and disseminate employment data in various forms in the country. Among the primary agencies involved in this activity are Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), Labour Bureau in Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) and the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

2. In India, household based Employment-Unemployment Surveysareconducted by the NSS under MoSPI, the Annual Labour Force Survey by MoLE and the Population Census by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner.The Employment-Unemployment Survey (EUS) is a comprehensive household survey providing labour force statistics in India. It was first conducted in the 9^thround of the National Sample Survey (NSS) in 1955. The current format of quinquennial surveys started in the 27^thround in 1972-73, based on M.L. Dantwala committee report. Since then, 8 quinquennial surveys have been conducted with the last one conducted during 2011-12. The EUS is carried out over a period of 12 months to account for seasonal variations in employment.
3. Recognizing India’s evolving economy and requirements, it was decided to make a few changes with respect to availability of household data on employment-unemployment. The first was to conduct household surveys on an annual basis;secondly introduce a time-use survey to assess the time disposition of household members; and thirdly, introduce the use of technology that can speed up data collection and processing to reduce the time lags.
4. India,having subscribedto the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the IMF since 1996, has had recourse to "as relevant" flexibility of the SDDS for the labour market data category which was available only once in 5 years. It is also important that the labour force data not only provides inputs to national policy but also remains internationally comparable. Further, considering the kind of quarterly data that the SDDS proposeson labour market (employment, unemployment and wages/earnings) using the concepts, definitions and classifications of International Labour Organisation (ILO), it was essential to put in place a system which could generate employment data to meet not only national requirements but also some of the requirements of IMF’s SDDS.
5. Considering the need for availability of labour force statistics at more frequent intervals, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) during 2017-18, with the objective of measuring quarterly changes of various statistical indicators of the labour market in urban areas as well as generating the annual estimates of different labour force indicators both in rural and urban areas. Households in urban areas were visited four times, constituting a rolling panel for 3 quarters. This facilitates analysis of the changes in seasonal employment and employment characteristics in urban areas.

B.         Sample Design of PLFS

6. 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. In urban area, samples for a panel within each stratum were drawn in the form of two independent sub-samples. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75% of the first-stage sampling units (FSUs)[1] are matched between two consecutive visits. There was no revisit in the rural samples. For rural areas, samples for a stratum/sub-stratum were drawn randomly in the form of two independent sub-samples. For rural areas, in each quarter of the survey period, 25% FSUs of annual allocation were covered.A rotating panel design is a survey sampling strategy used by National Statistical Offices when estimates are required regularly over time. Under such a design, equally sized sets of sampling units are brought in and out of the sample in a pre-specified pattern. These sets, often called rotation groups, may be composed of households, business firms, or other units of interest to the survey. Rotating panel designs are used to reduce the variances of estimators of change parameters and often to reduce the survey costs associated with introducing a new unit into the sample.
7. The PLFS has also used a rotational panel design in urban areasto measure quarterly changes of various statistical indicators of the labour market. Annual estimates of different labour force indicators were generated based on the first visit schedule in both rural and urban areas.
8. The first Annual Report is based on the data collected in PLFS during July 2017- June 2018. It presents estimates pertaining to various aspects of employment and unemployment at National and State levels. The Quarterly Bulletin is presented for the quarter ending December 2018 which contains key employment and unemployment indicators in urban areas only.

C.         Sampling method

9. Sample Size for First Visit during July 2017- June 2018 in rural and urban areas for the Annual Report: Out of the total number of 12,800 FSUs {7,024 villages and 5,776 Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks} allotted for the survey at the all-India level during July 2017- June 2018, 12,773 FSUs (7,014 villages and 5,759 urban blocks) could be surveyed for canvassing the PLFS schedule (Schedule 10.4). The number of households surveyed was 1,02,113 (56,108 in rural areas and 46,005 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 4,33,339 (2,46,809 in rural areas and 1,86,530 in urban areas). All the labour force indicators in the Annual Reportare estimated on the basis of the data collected in the first visit Schedule, in both rural and urban areas,except earnings from employment, hours worked and hoursavailable for additional work.

10. Sample Size in urban areas in each quarter of the survey period July 2017- June 2018: In urban areas, a rotational panel sampling design was used, as explained earlier. In rural areas there was only one visit. The data collected in the First Visit and Revisit Schedules during the survey period (July 2017-June 2018) were used to generate estimates of earnings from employment, hours work and hours available for additional work.

D.         Quarterly Bulletin

11. The Quarterly Bulletin contains estimates for urban areas for the quarters April- June 2018, July- September 2018 and October – December 2018. Sample sizes, during these three quarters, are as follows:

Table 1: Sample size in urban areas for the Quarterly Bulletin

12. Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators like theLabour Force Participation Rates (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Proportion Unemployed (PU) and Unemployment Rate (UR). These indicators are defined as follows:

1. 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.

2. Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed personsin the population.

3. Proportion Unemployed (PU): It is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed inthe population.

4. Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployedamong the persons in the labour force.

5. Activity Status- Usual Status: The activity status of a person is determined on the basis of the activities pursued by the person during the specified reference period. When the activity status is determined on the basis of the reference period of last 365 days preceding the date of survey, it is known as the usual activity status of the person.

6. Activity Status- 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.

13. The EUS conducted till 2011-12 used the monthly per capita expenditure of the household in the selected blocks as a basis for stratification of households; and out of 8 households in the selected blocks, 75% were from the middle income group or above in the urban areas. In the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted from 2017-18, a decision was taken to use education levels as a criterion for stratification at the ultimate level. This has been incorporated in the sampling design of PLFS, where out of 8 households selected in the sample, 75% had at least 1 member with 10^thstandard education or above.The rationale for this decision was based on the fact that the education levels in the economy have risen due to various policy interventions like the Right to Education Act etc. and it would be important to assess the level of employment and unemployment using this as a stratification basis.

14. The Standing Committee on Labour Force Statistics has noted these differences and included an Explanatory Note in the Annual Report of PLFS to sensitise users of these changes while making comparisons with the results of earlier Employment and Unemployment Surveys. Thus the PLFS provides a new metric for measurement of employment and unemployment.

E.         New features of PLFS

15. The usage of technology is another intervention introduced in the PLFS for the first time by NSS. Data under socio-economic surveys of National Sample Survey are traditionally collected from the field by using paper schedules and after the completion of data collection work it takes about a year to make available the results of the survey. NSSadapted the World Bank Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) solution platform with appropriate inputs for the PLFS. Data for the PLFS was collected in the field using Tablets and the CAPI solution with an in-built data validation process. This proved useful in the collection of primary data from the households, a reduced time for data transfer and processing of the survey results. Implementation of online data entry system in NSS wasa challenge that was effectively managed through close monitoring. NSShad intense and elaborate discussions with the World Bank Team andthe National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi starting from the audit of the various versions of the CAPI module to the data processing and tabulation. A series of meetings were held and continuous communication through e-mail/ telephone/video conferencing (VC) was conducted for ensuring successful operations.

16. The experience of using the CAPI solution for the field functionaries of the NSS was also unique. The Field Operations Division of NSS engaged around 700 personnel namely, Field Investigators (FI)/Field Officers (FO) besides, the regular manpower to work upon CAPI in PLFS. These manpower resources were trained for a uniform understanding to ensure correct implementation of concepts and definitions while collecting data.

F.         Way Forward

17. The PLFS needs to be seen as a new series for measuring employment and unemployment on an annual basis. It is important to note that with the rise in education levels in the economy and rise in household income levels, the aspiration levels of educated youth have also risen. Thus they may no longer be willing to join the labour force or work force requiring low skills and low remuneration. The PLFS results give the distribution of educated and unemployed persons across the country which can be used as a basis for skilling of youth to make them more employable by industry. 

18. As brought out earlier, there are various facets to the employment and unemployment scenario and no single data source is complete by itself. These data sets need to be supplemented by data from other sources so as to collectively give a holistic picture of the overall employment market. In this direction, the Ministry has been bringing out a compilation of new subscribers to EPFO, ESIC and NPS to give an assessment of changes in the formal employmentmarket. The PLFS survey data complemented by administrative data and data from other sources need to be triangulated to get a complete picture. The Ministry encourages the research community and academia to take up this task and give additional insight to the labour market to the public at large.

19. These Reports (both Annual and Quarterly) are available on the https://mospi.gov.in and the key results are given in the statements annexed.