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Labour and Income, Social Statistics
Daniel F. Gustafsson
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The Labor Force Survey is a quarterly sample-based interview survey on the Danish population between 15 and 89 years. The survey sheds light on how many are employed, unemployed (LFS unemployed) or outside the labor force. The survey provides detailed data on e.g. hours worked, conditions of employment, job search, education by regions, age and sex. Consequently the survey can, among other things, estimate the number of employed people who work at home regularly; how many self-employed people who work during weekends; or how many people have have a part-time job.

Data description

The main variable in the Labour Force Survey is the labour market status of the population.

The survey classifies people into two main categories: people in the labour force and people outside the labour force. Furthermore, people in the labour force are categorized as either employed or unemployed. Conscripts are considered employed.

The classification of respondents is based on their labour market status and follows EU definitions and recommendations from the International Labour Organization (ILO) definitions: Every respondent is interviewed about one specific reference week. All questions on work, working hours, unemployment etc. relate to this specific week.

Questionnaire (in Danish only).pdf

Classification system

Employed are all people, who in the reference week worked for payment or worked as self-employed or family workers for at least one hour. People temporarily absent perhaps due to vacation, illness, or maternity leave are considered to be employed.

Unemployed are all people without employment, who have actively been looking for work in the past four weeks prior to the reference week and who are able to begin a job within two weeks after the reference week ends. Active job-search methods include contact with a public employment office, applications to employers, contact with friends, relatives or trade unions, or for example studying or answering advertisements in newspapers or journals. Looking for permits, licences, financial resources, land, premises or equipment for potential self-employment are also considered as active job search.

Everyone else is categorized outside the labour force.

The labour market status of students follows these definitions. This means that students who are seeking jobs and are able to start within 14 days are defined as LFS-unemployed.

Classification of industry groups: People in the Labour Force Survey are also classified into industry groups, i.e. based on the businesses they work in, for example in wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, or in manufacturing. From 1st quarter 2009 the Danish nomenclature Dansk Branchekode 2007 (Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities), (DB07) has been applied to classify the industry group of the respondents. The nomenclature DB07 is based on the definitions of the European Union's nomenclature NACE rev. 2 from January 2008. From 2003 until 2008 Dansk Branchekode 2003 (Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities), (DB03) was applied and from 1994 until 2002 Dansk Branchekode 1993 (Danish Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities), (DB93) was applied. Before 1994 the classification of industries of 1st April 1977 was used.

Classification of occupation: People in the Labour Force Survey are also classified into occupation: Statistics Denmark's Classification of Occupations (DISCO-08)(Danish). The classification is a tool for organizing jobs or occupational functions in clearly defined groups, in relation to the tasks performed in the job or occupation. The use of DISCO-08 makes it possible to compare people with the same job function - regardless of the employee's formal title and education. DISCO-08 is the official Danish version of the international professional classification, International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08), which is prepared by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Classification of education: From 2014 the classification of education ISCED-2011 defined by UNESCO is applied. People in the Labour Force Survey are now classified by Classification of education (DISCED-15).

*The table related to the theme "Rural and urban" (LABY35) is broken down by municipality groups. Read more about the classification Municipality groups.

Sector coverage

Not relevant for these statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Labour market slack: Labour market slack: The labour market slack refers to individuals who are available for the labour market but whose potential is underutilized. It comprises four groups: • Underemployed part-time workers – individuals in part-time employment who want and are available to work additional hours, e.g., those wishing to work full time. • Unemployed individuals (as defined by ILO standards) – persons actively seeking work and available to start within two weeks. • Individuals outside employment who are seeking work but are not available to start within two weeks. • Individuals outside employment who are available to start work within two weeks but are not actively seeking work. The labour market slack increases when more individuals become unemployed or when employed persons desire additional working hours. The labour market slack can be measured in two ways: • By number of individuals: This counts each person in the slack, regardless of the number of additional hours they wish to work. • By full-time equivalents (FTEs): This converts the desired number of additional working hours into a corresponding number of full-time jobs. When calculating full-time equivalents, it is considered how many additional hours part-time employees wish to work beyond their current working hours, as well as how many hours unemployed individuals wish to work per week. The total number of hours is multiplied by 52 weeks per year and converted to full-time equivalents based on a standard of 1924 annual working hours per full-time position (the Danish standard full time equivalent). If the respondent is unable to give the number of hours he/she normally works per week, the contractual number of hours is used. For employees with flexi time systems, the contractual hours are always used, since overtime is expected to be compensated by reduced work in other weeks.

Labour market status: The main variable in the Labour Force Survey is the labour market status of the population.

Working time: The Labour Force Survey asks about three different types of working time in a specific reference week; usual, contractual and actual working hours.

Unemployed: Unemployed are all people without employment, who have actively been looking for work in the past four weeks prior to the reference week and who are able to begin a job within two weeks after the reference week ends. Active job-search methods include contact with a public employment office, applications to employers, contact with friends, relatives or trade unions, or for example studying or answering advertisements in newspapers or journals. Looking for permits, licencs, financial resources, land, premises or equipment for potential self-employment are also considered as active job search.

Employed: Employed are all people, who in the reference week worked for payment or worked as self-employed or family workers for at least one hour. People temporarily absent perhaps due to vacation, illness, or maternity leave are considered to be employed.

Employment rate: The employment rate is the number of employed persons compared to the number of persons in the same group of age in the population.

Economic activity rate: The number of individuals in the labor force (employed and unemployed) as a proportion of a given population group

Flexitime: Flexitime means that you can choose when to work within a fixed period of time. For example: You must be at work between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm but the rest of the working day is flexitime. You can completely decide your working time for yourself as long as you work for an agreed number of hours during a week or month. Typically, it's not a question of determining how much you work, but you can decide when to work. For example, if you have a contract to work 37 hours a week, you might work 35 hours in one week and 39 hours in the next week, but over time you still work the 37 hours a week, which is the agreement. Flexitime is basically part of one's working time agreement. Flexitime is also predominantly for people who have a working time contract. People without a contract may have a very varied working time, but it is not considered flexitime if there is no working time contract.

Full-Time Equivalent Persons: Full-time equivalent persons are a measure that converts working hours into full-time equivalent persons. The number of full-time equivalent persons is calculated by converting the total working hours into an equivalent number of full-time positions, based on a standard working time of 1924 hours per year.

Unemployment rate: The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons compared to the number of persons in the same group of age in the labour force (employed and unemployed).

Weighting method: The way in which the sample is weighted to the entire population, in order to make the results as representative as possible. It is always weighted figures that are being published. The method of weighting practically means that each person participating in the LFS gets his or her own weight and hereby represents a specific sample of the population with regards to sex and age. The method of weighting has been revised several times over the years (read more under Documentation on methodology.

Person: 15-89 years old.

Reference week: The specific week that the respondent is asked about. Whether you are employed or LFS unemployed, how many hours you have worked during the week etc., is related to the specific reference week. The date of the interview can be up to four weeks after the reference week, typically 1-2 weeks after. There are 13 reference weeks per quarter.

Extended Labour Force: The extended labour force includes all individuals in the labour force (i.e., employed and unemployed as defined by ILO standards) as well as two additional groups who are not part of the labour force but have a relation to the labour market. These groups consist of individuals who either: (a) actively seek work but cannot start a job within two weeks, or (b) are not actively seeking work but can start a job within two weeks.

Statistical unit

Labour market status refers to whether persons are employed, unemployed or outside the labour force. Employment status refers to whether persons are employees, self-employed, contributing family workers etc.

Statistical population

The population is the resident population in Denmark aged 15-89.

Reference area

The LFS covers all persons aged 15-89 who live permanently in Denmark. They are able to work in either Denmark or abroad, as long as they permanent live in Denmark.

Time coverage

The Danish Labour Force Survey has been conducted yearly since 1984, and from 1994 the survey has been conducted continuously throughout the year. In January 2007 the survey was expanded considerably and the data collection process was outsourced. In November 2011 a revised weighting method was implemented and data going back to 2007 were revised. The data series in StatBank Denmark were updated, applying the revised weights (see Comparability - over time). From 2021 the LFS is adapted to a new EU framework regulation and population has changed to include the age group from 75-89 years. The weighting method has also been changed to include the age group 75-89 years. For both the age group 65-74 year olds and 75-89 year olds it applies that so far they are only reported to (and published by) Eurostat and are not included in the national dissemination via http://www.Statbank.dk.

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

The LFS is measured by number of persons. Because of confidentiality all published figures are rounded to nearest thousands.
The LFS is published both in number of persons and in percentage.

Reference period

01-07-2024 - 30-09-2024

Frequency of dissemination

The Labour Force Survey is published quarterly in News from Statistics Denmark in the series * Quarterly * and is published yearly in * Year *.

Quarterly results are published 1.5 months after a quarter has ended.
Yearly-results are published at the same time as the Quarterly-News for Q4.

Scheduled Releases

Legal acts and other agreements

The Act on Statistics Denmark.

The processing of data must be approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency, which is responsible for the general supervision and administration. The LFS follows the Act on Processing of Personal Data. All employed with connection to the LFS must beforehand sign a statement of privacy.

The Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force survey in the Community. Regulation (EC) No 2257/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2003 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics.

From January 1st 2021 the LFS is adapted to a new EU framework regulation Regulation 2019/1700.

The definitions in the LFS comply with the guidelines as laid down by the ILO, the international labour market organization of the UN. The operationalization of the concepts is made by Eurostat, who coordinates the common European Labour Force Survey. The operationalization is hereby recommended by ILO and Eurostat.

International definitions.

Cost and burden

Response burden is not calculated.

Comment

The Labor Force Survey (LFS) - Subject page: [Labour market status of the population])https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/arbejde-og-indkomst/befolkningens-arbejdsmarkedsstatus/arbejdskraftundersoegelsen-aku).

Other documentation on The quarterly LFS.

Read more about The monthly LFS and the Methodology (In Danish Only).

Statistical processing