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Labour Force Survey

• Revision of seasonal adjustment in 2025
  RegARIMA models have been updated and seasonally adjusted data rivised retroactively on the release of January 2025 results.
  (on March 4, 2025)
• Release Schedule updated
  Release schedule for fiscal 2025 has been published.
  (on January 31, 2025)

1. The Survey Results

[Summary tables & Statistical tables]

All Data: Statistical tables & Database
Notes: Notes on the results

Historical data

Annual Report on the Labour Force Survey

< Notes >
In the Labour Force Survey, the results are periodically revised due to the mechanics of estimating results, but Annual Report on the Labour Force Survey contains figures as of the time of publication.
Therefore, please note that the Annual Report published in each year are different from the data of e-Stat and Statistics Bureau of Japan website.
Historical data is always revised with the latest comparable time-series data, so please refer to that first when comparing time-series data.
(Notes: For further information of revision, please refer to Notes on the Historical data.)

2. Release Schedule of the Survey Results

Basic Tabulation / Detailed Tabulation

3. About the Labour Force Survey

      The Labour Force Survey is a survey of households usually residing in Japan.
      Its purpose is to elucidate the current state of employment and unemployment in Japan every month.

      There are two categories of results in this survey.

• Basic Tabulation (Released monthly)
  • Items obtained from the Basic questionnaire:
    Labour force, Employed person / Employee (by industry, occupation, type of employment (Regular/ Non-regular employee etc.), etc.), Weekly hours of work, Unemployed person (by reason for seeking a job etc.), Unemployment rate, Not in labour force etc.
• Detailed Tabulation (Released quarterly)
  • Items mainly obtained from the Special questionnaire:
    The reason for taking a non-regular employment, Person who changed job, Duration of unemployment, Person wishing to work (Not in labour force) etc.

Outline

• Outline of the Labour Force Survey(PDF:106KB)
• Concepts and Definitions(PDF:174KB)
• Sampling Method, Estimation Method, and Sampling Errors of Estimates(PDF:522KB)

Questionnaire and Instruction

• The Basic Questionnaire Form (PDF:232KB)

  Instructions for Filling in the Questionnaire (Basic Tabulation) (PDF:268KB)

• The Special Questionnaire Form (PDF:229KB)

  Instructions for Filling in the Questionnaire (Detailed Tabulation) (PDF:201KB)

Formerly used Questionnaire and Instruction

• The Basic Questionnaire Form (From January 2013 to December 2017) (PDF:157KB)

  Instructions for Filling in the Questionnaire (Basic Tabulation) (From January 2013 to December 2017) (PDF:201KB)

• The Special Questionnaire Form (From January 2013 to December 2017) (PDF:145KB)

  Instructions for Filling in the Questionnaire (Detailed Tabulation) (From January 2013 to December 2017) (PDF:137KB)

4. Other Information

Inquiry

• Notes on the results
• Errata on Labour Force Survey
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Special Survey of the Labour Force Survey
• Ad hoc Survey of Employment and Unemployment Conditions

       is "Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan" (external site) where you can browse statistics tables and database.

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