The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a large-scale, nationwide survey of households in Ireland conducted by the Central Statistics Office. It is designed to produce quarterly labour force estimates that include the official measure of employment and unemployment in the state (ILO basis). This survey replaced the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) from Q3 2017. The QNHS began in September 1997, replacing the annual April Labour Force Survey (LFS). Each quarter the LFS produces data among others on: Numbers unemployed Persons in employment Labour force participation rates Inactive population (not in the labour force) Sectoral breakdown (Nace Rev. 2) of those in employment Breakdown of headline data by age, sex and region Persons in employment classified by occupation Seasonally adjusted headline series Data on family composition New Regulatory framework from January 2021 The survey meets the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019. This is a new framework regulation governing the production of European Statistics on persons and households (Integration European Social Statistics framework regulation – IESS FR) which came into force on 1 January 2021. The IESS FR regulation replaces Council Regulation (EC) No. 577/98, adopted in March 1998 and covers various domains of social statistics including labour market statistics. It aims to ensure that social statistics based on sample surveys such as the Labour Force Survey (LFS), are produced in a more harmonised and coordinated manner across Europe.

Probability: Stratified: Proportional A new sample based on the 2016 Census of Population was introduced on a phased basis (over five quarters) from Q2 2019 and was fully operational in Q2 2020. The new sample is stratified using administrative county and the Pobal HP (Haase and Pratschke) Deprivation Index and consists of 32,500 households per quarter.

Face-to-face interview: CAPI/CAMI

Telephone interview: CATI