Average number of actual weekly hours of work in main job, by sex, age, professional status, full-time/part-time and economic activity (1998-2008, NACE Rev. 1.1)
methods, notes and classification
DATA_DESCR The sectioná'LFS series - detailed annual survey results'áreports annual results from the EU-LFS. While LFS is a quarterly survey, it is also possible to produce annual results. There are several ways of doing it, see section '20.5 Data compilation' below for details. This data collection covers all main labour market characteristics, i.e. the total population, activity and activity rates, employment, employment rates, self employed, employees, temporary employment, full-time and part-time employment, population in employment having a second job, working time, total unemployment and inactivity. General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)', see link in related metada. Detailed informationáon the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.
CLASS_SYSTEM The EU-LFS results are produced in accordance with the relevantáinternational classification systems. The main classifications used are NACE Rev.1 (NACE Rev.1.1 from 2005) and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008) for economic activity, ISCO 88 (COM) and ISCO 08 (from 2011) for occupation and ISCED 1997 for the level of education. Actual coding in the EU-LFS may deviate to some extent from those general standards; for more details on classifications, levels of aggregation and transition rules, please consultáEU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology. EU-LFS also uses a classification of degree of urbanisation (this is a developed version of 'rural/urban' categorisation). This classification maps geographical areas (at level Local Administrative Units - Level 2/municipalities) into three categories with low, medium or high degree of urbanisation. This is done using a criterion of geographical contiguity in combination with a minimum population threshold based on population grid square cells of 1 km▓. The classification has been revised (from 2012). For more details, please consult: Eurostat-Metadata.
STAT_CONC_DEF The European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) provides population estimates for the main labour market characteristics, such as employment, unemployment, inactivity, hours of work, occupation, economic activity and other labour related variables, as well as important socio-demographic characteristics, such as sex, age, education, household characteristics and regions of residence. The definitions of employment and unemployment, as well as other survey characteristics follow the definitions and recommendations of the International Labour Organisation. The definition of unemployment is further precised in Commission Regulation (EC) Noá1897/2000. The definitions of the presented indicators can be summarised as follows: Employed persons are persons aged 15 and over who performed work, even for just one hour per week, for pay, profit or family gain during the reference week or were not at work but had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent because of, for instance, illness, holidays, industrial dispute, and education or training. Unemployed persons are persons aged 15-74 who were without work during the reference week, were currently available for work and were either actively seeking work in the past four weeks or had already found a job to start within the next three months. The economically active population (labour force) comprises employed and unemployed persons. Duration of unemployment is the duration of the search for employment or the length of the period since leaving least job; whichever period is shorter. Long-term unemployed persons are persons who have been unemployed for one year or more. Employment/activity rates represent employed/active persons as a percentage of same age total population. Part-time employment rates represent persons employed on a part-time basis as a percentage of the same age population. Unemployment rates represent unemployed persons as a percentage of the active population. Self-employed persons are the ones who work in their own business, farm or professional practice. A self-employed person is considered to be working if she/he meets one of the following criteria: works for the purpose of earning profit, spends time on the operation of a business or is in the process of setting up his/her business. Employees are defined as persons who work for a public or private employer and who receive compensation in the form of wages, salaries, payment by results or payment in kind; non-conscript members of the armed forces are also included. Employees with temporary contracts are those who declare themselves as having a fixed term employment contract or a job which will terminate if certain objective criteria are met, such as completion of an assignment or return of the employee who was temporarily replaced. Full-time/part-time distinction in the main job is made on the basis of a spontaneous answer given by the respondent in all countries, except for the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway, where part-time is determined on the basis of whether the usual hours worked are fewer than 35, while full-time on the basis of whether the usual hours worked are 35 or more, and in Sweden where this criterion is applied to the self-employed persons as well.. Involuntary part-time employment. Persons working on an involuntary part-time basis are those who declare that they work part-time because they are unable to find full-time work. Population in employment having a second job refers only to persons with more than one job at the same time. Consequently, persons having changed job during the reference week are not covered. Saturday and Sunday working. This concept should be interpreted strictly on the basis of formal agreements concluded with the employer. Employees taking office work home and/or occasionally working at the workplace on Saturdays or Sundays are not included. Working on Saturdays (or Sundays), in this context, means having worked two or more Saturdays (or Sundays) during a four-week reference period before the interview. Shift work. Shift work is a regular work schedule, during which an enterprise is operational or provides services beyond the normal working hours (weekdays 8 am to 6 pm; evening closing hours might be later in the case of a longer noon break), and where different crews of workers succeed each other at the same work site to perform the same operations. Shift work usually involves work in the early morning, at night or at the weekend; the weekly rest days might not coincide with the normal rest days. Night work. Work done during usual sleeping hours and implying unusual sleeping times. The indicator covers work during the night for at least 50% of the days on which the person worked, during a four-week reference period before the survey interview. Number of hours actually/usually worked in the main /second job during the reference weekThe number of hours actually/usually worked during the reference week includes all hours including extra hours, either paid or unpaid, but excludes the travel time between home and the place of work as well as the main meal breaks (normally taken at midday). Persons who have also worked at home during the reference period are asked to include the number of hours they have worked at home. Apprentices, trainees and other persons in vocational training are asked to exclude the time spent in school or other special training centres. For more details, please consult theáEU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology.
STAT_UNIT Persons
STAT_POP The EU-LFS results cover the total population usually residing in Member States, except for persons living in collective or institutional households. While demographic data are gathered for all age groups, questions relating to labour market status are restricted to persons in the age group of 15 years or older. In the EFTA countries participating in LFS, i.e. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, population data are not provided for the age-groups outside the scope of labour market questions. The EU-LFS covers all industries and occupations. For more details and exceptions, please consult please consult theáEU-LFS (Statistics Explained) - Methodology. Please note that the EU-LFS covers the resident population, so that the figures reported for a country include residents working abroad and excludes foreign residents working in the country.áThis canámake a sizeable difference in particular in small countries with relatively many cross-border workers, such as Luxembourg. See also the explanations under 17.1b below.á
REF_AREA European Union, Euro area, the 27 EU-Member States,áthree EFTA countries (Iceland, which at the same time is a candidate country, Norway and Switzerland), and three acceding and candidate countries, i.e. Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.áData for Cyprus refer only to the areas of Cyprus controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Data for France do not include the overseas departments (DOM).
BASE_PER Not applicable.
UNIT_MEASURE Most results measure number of persons (thousands). Some indicators are reported as rates (employment, unemployment rates) or growth rates. Some variables are reported in other units (ages in years, working time in hours, etc.).
Methods 
Explanatory Notes 
Variables