THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The following diagram illustrates the Labour Force Status framework, which classifies the population into employed, unemployed and not in the labour force.

Certain rules are required for classifying the population into the categories of employed, unemployed and not in the labour force. These rules cover three areas (to be working or available for work):

• a reference period of one week;
• the classification of the population based on activities performed during the reference period; and
• the use of priority rules to ensure that each person is classified into only one of the three basic categories.

In order to measure the Labour Force the concept of economic activity has to be operationalised and an appropriate set of objective questions used to identify those who are engaged in economic work, or looking for work and available for work. The questions are tested to ensure they are easily understood by the respondent to obtain accurate data.