Dataset description and subject overview

Data on the short-term evolution of the major components of the labour force and employment by sector are provided in over 1600 series of the Quarterly Labour Force Statistics database. A set of Standardised Unemployment Rates (SUR) by gender and broad age groups and total population figures are also provided.

The database has time series from 1965 covering the 23 OECD member countries that compile these data on a monthly or quarterly basis and for some series country groupings for OECD-Total, Euro area and EU15 are also available.

As of January 2005, the OECD have discontinued publication of their Quarterly Labour Force Statistics - Edition 4, 2004 is the last update to this title. A selection of the data will continue to be published in Main Economic Indicators, but not at the level of detail that was found in the QLFS.

Note: Employment and unemployment data in the QLFS may differ from that presented in the MEI as the former are generally compiled from results of the Labour Force Surveys whereas data in the MEI may be derived from Establishment/Enterprise Surveys or administrative sources.

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OECD Quarterly Labour Force Statistics Documentation

The OECD produces the following documentation about the database:

• Description of OECD Labour Market Statistics

The OECD Quarterly Labour Force Statistics hosted by ESDS International are delivered via Beyond 20/20 WDS. A worked example using Beyond 20/20 WDS and the OECD Main Economic Indicators is available in [html] and [pdf] formats.

Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to read documents in pdf format. You can download it free of charge from the Adobe website.

OECD Terms and Conditions

As part of the ESDS online registration process, you are required to accept the End User License conditions of use before being allowed access to the data. In addition, the following additional special conditions of use apply to the OECD databases (hereinafter called the "Work") obtained through the Economic and Social Data Service (hereinafter called the "ESDS"):

1. The Work is the subject of copyright and the sole and exclusive ownership of the OECD (hereinafter called the "Publisher").
2. Registered Users of the ESDS (hereinafter called "End Users") agree
   1. to refrain from any distribution whatsoever (commercial, gratuitous or otherwise) of the Work obtained through the ESDS;
   2. to use the Work for private or other personal use only;
   3. not to infringe upon the integrity of the Work they have downloaded by means of data transmission, and in particular to refrain from any act of alteration of the Work, such as abbreviation, reorganisation, re-structuring thereof.
3. The Publisher does not warrant, and shall not be liable for, the accuracy and completeness of the Work. He shall not be responsible for any damage caused through the conversion of the Work into machine-readable form, electronic storage or distribution to End Users by means of online data transmission.
4. The Publisher shall not be held responsible for inaccuracies or errors contained in the data provided to the ESDS or for errors or omissions in the documentation relating to the Work.
   

Applications for permission to reproduce all or part of these OECD databases should be made to:

OECD publications
2 rue André-Pascal
75775 PARIS CEDEX 16
France

For further information: http://www.oecd.org/publications

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Countries in the OECD Quarterly Labour Force Statistics

The 23 OECD member countries presented in the Quarterly Labour Force Statistics are:

Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

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Periodicity and Time Range

The OECD Quarterly Labour Force Statistics are released Quarterly and run from 1965.

The OECD have discontinued publication of their Quarterly Labour Force Statistics - Edition 4, 2004 is the last update to this title. A selection of the data will continue to be published in Main Economic Indicators, but not at the level of detail that was found in the QLFS.

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