DataLab: Monthly figures on the labour market – January and February 2021

DataLab
DataLab: Monthly figures on the labour market – January and February 2021

Statbel publishes today the provisional labour market results for January and February 2021 based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Early 2021, a number of adjustments were made to the survey, causing a break in the series. Some questions were deleted and others were added. For example, the respondents were asked for the first time whether their job or situation allowed them to work more often from home. The figures show that both in January and February some 44% of people employed sometimes, usually or always worked from home. Among the people employed who did not always work from home, 84.7% answered, in February, that their job made it impossible to work (more) from home. According to 5.3%, it was however possible to work (more) from home but the employer, customer or client did not allow it. In addition, 10% of the respondents said they can work (more) from home, but they would rather not do it or it is difficult because of the home situation.

The changes also have an impact on the employment and unemployment rates, because the operational definitions of employment and unemployment of the International Labour Office (ILO) have also changed. People who have already been temporarily unemployed for three months or more, are no longer counted among the people employed, which, given the COVID-19 crisis, has a significant impact on the employment and unemployment rates. The employment rate of people aged 20-64 amounts to 68.3% in January and 68.5% in February according to these new definitions. If, as before, we include the temporarily unemployed who have been unemployed for more than three months among the people employed, the employment rate amounts then to 69.7% in January and 69.5% in February, which is in line with the figure of December 2020 (69.6%).

The unemployment rate of people aged 15-64 amounts to 6.7% in January and 7.6% in February. If we also correct for the temporarily unemployed for more than three months, the unemployment rate in January and February amounts to 6.4% and 7.3% respectively.

The changes are due to the entry into force of a new European framework regulation (EU regulation 2019/1700). The questionnaire has been thoroughly revised, among others, to bring it into line with the adjusted operational definitions of employment and unemployment of the International Labour Office (ILO). This change in the way of questioning creates a break in the series. Consequently, the figures until 2020 are no longer entirely comparable with the figures from 2021 onwards. The changes to the questionnaire will be implemented in all EU Member States from 2021 onwards, with the aim of bringing more uniformity to the way some concepts are measured, which should ensure more comparable results at European level.

In the coming months, Statbel will conduct further research on the effect of other changes to the questionnaire on the results.