The Labour Force Survey is the only survey that collects data on the labour supply in the country: the level of education of the population, the activities and occupations of employed persons etc. Only the information provided by the population can really describe the situation on the labour market in the country.

The survey results are used in the elaboration of economic, labour market and social development policies.

Households are selected at random using a scientific sampling method. Including all households in the survey would require a lot of time and enormous financial expenses. For these reasons, every year, a certain number of households representing the entire population of the country are selected at random. In order for the survey results to be considered correct, this method of choosing the household must be respected.

For these reasons, we kindly ask the selected households to participate in this survey, the results of which will bring a benefit both at the country level and at the level of each individual household.
 

The method of data recording is face-to-face interview. During the interview, the interviewer reads the questions from the questionnaire and records the answers of the household members.
According to the scheme, a household participates in the LFS  4 times within 16 months.

The recording of information in the survey questionnaires is carried out by interviewing persons aged 15 and over, at the  home of the households in the selected dwellings.

The interviews are distributed evenly throughout the quarter, carrying out a continuous survey.
 

Data recording is done by the interviewer at the homes of the households, based on the questions included in the two types of questionnaires:

• Dwelling questionnaire - CL
• Individual Questionnaire - CI

To carry out the activities of data collection, verification, entry and transmission, teams are organized in the field, which usually consist of 3-5 interviewers and a supervisor. In total, the survey includes 150 interviewers who collect the data in the 28 urban and 97 rural localities randomly selected for this purpose.
 

The survey is carried out in the following localities:  

The survey includes only the private households of the population. The subject of the survey are persons with usually residence on the territory of the country for a period of 12 months or more, members of the households in the selected dwillings, including persons absent for a long period (over 6 months), if they maintain family ties with the household from which they are part of, such as:
- the persons on compulsory military service;
− pupils and students away for studies;
− people away at work;
− detainees and arrestees;
− persons hospitalized or temporarily in sanatoriums for treatment or recovery;
− people traveling to another locality in the country.

For these people, data is collected by interviewing relatives or other members of the households they belong to.

Not included in the scope of the survey: Persons who live permanently in shared housing units (homes for the elderly, persons with disabilities, student dormitories, etc.) or in seasonal housing are not included in the survey.

The information obtained from the processing of the provided data is used only for statistical purposes and is presented in a agregated form per country. The Law on official statistics guarantees this fact, and those who collect the data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of individual data.

According to art. 19 of the Law on official statistics no. 93 of 26.05.2017, producers of official statistics shall take all regulatory, administrative, technical and organizational measures to protect confidential data and prevent their disclosure.

In the chapter VII of the nominated law stipulates that the data  collected, processed and stored for the production of statistical information are confidential if they allow the direct or indirect identification of the respondents.
 

More information on the survey results is available on the official website www.statistica.gov.md and can be accessed free of charge by anyone under the headings:

• Statbank / Social statistics / Labour force and earnings 
• Statistics by themes  / Social statistics / Labour force and earnings / Employment and unemployment
• Reference metadata / Labour Force Survey
• Statistical glossary / Employment and unemployment
• Release calendar