Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS)

The labour force sample survey (LFSS) used by the CZSO is a source of information on the labour market. The survey provides information collected in households of respondents. Methodology of indicators measured by the LFSS is in line with definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Office (ILO) adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians held in October 1982 as a basis for direct international comparability of labour market characteristics in various countries. At the same time, the implementing methodology of Eurostat, which explains the contents of particular market characteristics, is respected.
Since 1998, the reference period of the LFSS has been the calendar quarter, not a seasonal one. Consequently, historical figures were converted into calendar quarters too. For this reason, the figures listed in the CZSO yearbooks before 1997 are not comparable with those appearing in the yearbooks that followed.
The sample includes over 25 thousand dwellings in the Czech Republic (over 0.6 % of all permanently occupied dwellings), in which more than 65 thousand respondents of all age groups are surveyed. About 55 thousand of them are aged 15 or more. Included in the LFSS are all persons living in the sampled dwellings for three months or more. The LFSS is a continuous survey, whose results are evaluated and published every quarter.