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

Probability: Simple random, 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. As with the expiring sample below, 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. The previous sample was based on the 2011 Census of Population and was introduced incrementally from Q1 2016 and expired in Q1 2019. The sample was stratified using administrative county and the Pobal HP (Haase and Pratschke) Deprivation Index. A two-stage sample design was used. In the first stage 1,300 blocks were selected using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling. In the second stage households were selected using Simple Random Sampling (SRS). This ensured each household in the sample frame had an equal probability of selection.

Telephone interview: CATI