Redefining Employment Statistics: NSO's Expansion of Periodic Labour Force Survey
Refreshing jobless rate assessment: 3 significant modifications in Regular Workforce Intermittent Survey
Your Stats Buddy (YSB) Here! The National Statistics Office (NSO) is making a significant shift in its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFI) to provide a more accurate representation of employment trends in both urban and rural areas.
As per the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, NSO is extending the quarterly labour market survey to areas beyond the cities. In simpler terms, the survey is going rural!
In light of this change, NSO is bumping up its sample size by a staggering 250%. The expanded PLF Survey will cover 2,72,304 households—an increase from the previous 1,02,400 households.
Ever heard of April WPI inflation? It fell to a 13-month low of 0.85% in April, primarily due to lower food prices. But what's that got to do with our survey, you ask? Well, let's dive a bit deeper.
Why the Rural Leap
The PLFI was initially launched in 2017, generating key indicators on employment and unemployment in urban and rural areas. Yet, the quarterly reports were confined to urban areas only. The revamped approach aims to present a more comprehensive picture of labor and employment statistics across the nation by integrating rural areas into the quarterly reports.
The revamped quarterly report will shed light on labor force participation rate, unemployment rate, and worker population ratio, providing a detailed understanding of the country's employment scenario.
The much-awaited first quarterly report with data from both rural and urban areas will be released in August, corresponding to the April-June quarter.
A Fresh Reporting Cycle
Tovethe new approach, the NSO has revamped the reporting cycle of the PLF Survey. The Survey's July-to-June cycle is swapped for a sleeker calendar-year cycle, with a January to December reporting cycle.
Employment, Labour, Survey—You name it!
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Now, you might wonder—why does the NSO need to make these changes? Here's the deal:
- Comprehensive Data Collection: Expanding surveys to rural areas helps gather data that accurately represents the entire population, including remote and less developed regions. This is essential for effective policy-making and resource allocation.
- Economic and Demographic Changes: Adjusting the reporting cycle ensures the capture of economic activities, migration patterns, or seasonal variations in employment, which can vary significantly between urban and rural areas.
- Policy and Development Needs: Data from rural areas is vital for developing targeted policies to address specific challenges faced by rural communities, such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of access to formal employment opportunities.
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- Amidst the expansion of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFI) by the National Statistics Office (NSO), data for both urban and rural areas will be monitored for a more complete representation of labor and employment trends within the economy.
- The downward trend in April WPI inflation, despite lower food prices, signifies inflationary pressure relief; however, it also emphasizes the significance of the PLFI's extension to rural areas, allowing for a broader understanding of employment dynamics in the finance market.
- The shift in the PLFI's reporting cycle from a July-to-June cycle to a January-to-December calendar-year cycle signifies the NSO's commitment to capturing more accurate data, ensuring a better representation of economic activities, migration patterns, and seasonal employment fluctuations within the economy.
