About the Labour Force Survey

 

1. What kind of survey is the Labour Force Survey?

Frequently asked questions from foreign nationals surveyed in the Labour Force Survey

 

2. Do I need to respond to the survey even if I am a foreigner?

3. I do not want to provide my personal information.

4. Is it possible to respond to the survey online?

Release timing

 

5. When are the survey results released?

Labour force status

 

6. What is the definition of the employed and unemployed?

7. On what concepts are the employed and unemployed defined in the ILO standards based?

8. Why are unpaid workers in a family business regarded as employed?

9. Why are those who worked only for an hour during the last week of a month regarded as employed?

10. How is the unemployment rate calculated?

11. Why are seasonally adjusted values mainly used as unemployment rates?

12. Are the unemployed restricted to those registered at public employment security offices: "Hello Work"?

13. Are job leavers who tried to seek work but finally gave it up regarded as unemployed?

14. Are those who became unemployed after quitting their job using an early retirement program regarded as involuntarily unemployed?

15. What is the difference between "Unemployed Person" and "Unemployed Person (ILO 2013)" in the "Labour Underutilization"?

International comparison

 

16. Is Japan's definition of the unemployed narrower than that of other nations?

17. Does Japan's unemployment rate tend to be lower or higher than that of the U.S.?

Comparison with other surveys

 

18. What is the relationship between the ratio of active job openings to applicants presented by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the unemployment rates?

Find data

19. Are unemployment rates by prefecture available?

Other frequently asked questions

 

20. Which industry are dispatched workers classified into, "the dispatching" industry or "dispatched" industry?

21. The actual unemployment rate is said to be higher than the value of a government official announcement. Is it true?