[18-03-2009] Background to the Labour Force Survey
Following the UK's accession to the European Community, the LFS was carried out for the first time in 1973, under the terms of an EC Regulation. The Statistical Office of the European Communities (SOEC) co-ordinates information from all the Labour Force Surveys carried out by member states in order to assist in such matters as the allocation of Social Fund resources.
From 1973 to 1983, the LFS was carried out biennially in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Following a change in the requirements of the EC Regulation, from 1984 an annual survey was conducted and results referred to the spring months of each year. In March 1992 the GB portion of the survey moved onto a quarterly cycle and in December 1994 a quarterly survey was introduced in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) is responsible for ensuring that the survey is conducted in Northern Ireland. However, the day-to-day responsibility for running the survey, which includes data collection and database creation, rests with the Central Survey Unit (CSU) of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
CSU are responsible for the creation of a Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI) questionnaire (designed to mirror that used in GB), the sampling of addresses and the carrying out of fieldwork using a team of specialist interviewers.
