Regional Labour Market Statistics Gorja BARTSCH E4 – Regional Statistics and Geographical Information gorja.bartsch@ec.europa.eu Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012 Background High interest in regional labour market data NUTS 2 data: mandatory transmission under LFS NUTS 3 data: parallel transmissions Aggregates to unit E4 LFS microdata to LFS unit No publication of individual data 2011: proposal to allow unit E4 to use NUTS 3 aggregations based on LFS microdata Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012 State of play – 2011 data NUTS 2 data Aggregations based on LFS sent to E4 by LFS unit Press release on 4 July 2012 "Statistics in Focus" before end of the year NUTS 3 data Data received from 22 out of 25 MS Most data now based on LFS 6 MS allow use of aggregations based on LFS microdata 12 MS send data to both E4 and LFS unit Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012 Transmission of 2011 NUTS 3 data Green MS: data sent to E4 Blue MS: no data sent to E4 Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Analysis of NUTS 3 data: first results Source comparison Only minor differences between LFS microdata and tables based on LFS annual averages Tables sent to E4 based on other sources or 3-year-averages: - lower comparability with NUTS 2 LFS data - larger differences to LFS microdata (decreasing with size of the region) New validation rules: currently implemented On-going: formulation of possible thresholds and potential regional aggregates Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Proposals for improving NUTS 3 data Increasing LFS sample size: no feasible option Increased burden on respondents and NSIs Option 1: changes to LFS sample design Stratification based on NUTS 3 regions Modified sample allocation rules Integration with other surveys proposals need to be discussed in connection with future revisions of LFS methodology Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Proposals for improving NUTS 3 data Option 2: enhancing NUTS 3 data with auxiliary information and small area estimation Use of register/census data to enrich LFS sample Small area estimation to improve accuracy especially for smaller NUTS 3 regions Possibility of feasibility studies Objective: investigate added value of option 2 Could be either done by MS or Eurostat MS with experience in small area estimation encouraged to share best practices Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

Conclusions / next steps NUTS 3 data transmission should be harmonised MS sending NUTS 3 codes with LFS data are asked to allow unit E4 the use of NUTS 3 aggregations Eurostat should be informed about any concerns about the reliability of the data and/or thresholds Member States are asked to give their views on the use of auxiliary information/small area estimations to enhance NUTS 3 data their possible participation in feasibility studies Thank you! Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012