Upgraded Labour Force Survey Starts October 5th

"The Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Marco Archer announced today that his Ministry is providing the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO)"

The Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Marco Archer announced today that his Ministry is providing the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) with additional resources starting this fiscal year to conduct two Labour Force Surveys (LFS) each year ??? in October and April. The October 2014 LFS covering all districts of the Cayman Islands starts on Sunday, October 5th, 2014.

⫿In addition, most interviews will now be conducted using tablets rather than the previously used paper questionnaires,??? he also announced. ⫿With this enhanced technology and twice-a-year survey, we can now expect more timely labor force statistics in support of employment monitoring and policy-making,??? the Minister added.

⫿The LFS is a very important survey as it directly collects data from households on their employment status,??? Minister Archer also stated. ⫿These data are used to generate key indicators such as the unemployment rate,??? he further explained.

Trained interviewers will visit randomly selected samples of households in the three Islands over a four-week period to conduct interviews.

The ESO once again appeals to the public for its full cooperation with the interviewers, and to provide the necessary information which will be collected under the Statistics Law (2011 Revision). A sample of the LFS Questionnaire and the Interviewer’s Manual are available from www.eso.ky.

Each interviewer will work under an Oath of Secrecy, and all information collected are confidential and kept exclusively in ESO. No information is ever entered which would allow anyone to be able to link the data with an individual respondent.

All interviewers carry a photo identification which should be worn for easy visibility, and respondents are advised to request identification from any interviewer before sharing information.

For further information on any aspect of the survey, or results of previous surveys, contact the Economics & Statistics Office at 949-0940 or visit www.eso.ky.