The Department of Statistics (STAT) started today with its annual Labour Force Survey (LFS). This survey is used internationally and locally to collect recent labour market data, which includes the number and characteristics of persons who are employed, unemployed and not in the labour force.
Department Head of STAT, Makini Persaud-Hickinson said the team is counting on the participation of residents in providing up-to-date information regarding their current status on the labour market. This will allow STAT to produce related statistics in support of labour policies, economic analysis and future planning, especially post-Irma.
This year a total of 1300 households have been randomly selected in the LFS sample. 13-trained STAT interviewers will conduct interviews with household members via a digital questionnaire. Data-collection is scheduled to be complete within eight weeks.
STAT is reminding the public that it has a legal responsibility to keep individuals’ collected data confidential at all times. The data will only be used to create statistics on aggregated levels. In order to do this, persons falling in the sample are also required by law to participate and share their data with STAT.
Results of the survey will be made available in early 2019, providing updates to key labour market indicators last measured during the LFS done in the first quarter of 2017. At that time, the overall unemployment rate was at a low 6.2%, while youth unemployment stood at 23.8%.
For further information, contact STAT at 542-0652 or the LFS Project Leader, Ms. Joy-Ann van Arneman at
Joy-Ann.vanArneman@sintmaartengov.org