Comparability

Comparability - geographical

KAS follows the international guidelines from the International Labour Organization (ILO) for estimating the population main attachment to the labour market. The ILO guidelines are however pointed towards survey-based statistics (the Labour Force Surveys), where the person itself provides the information about the connection to the labour market. Since KAS on the other hand is based on register data, the ILO guidelines are adjusted for use for RAS. It is therefore recommended that the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) are used for international comparisons, while KAS is mainly used to illustrate national structures.

Comparability over time

Expect from data break in the classification of occupation in 2010 the statistic is comparable for the employed part of the population in the hole period 2008-2016. Due to a necessary change in the data foundation the rest of the population (unemployed and persons outside the labour force) are first included in the statistic from the publication of data for 1st.-4th. quarter of 2017. The change in the data foundation also means that there is a smaller data break between 2016 and 2017 for employed persons.

Changes in classification of occupation

The level of skills for employees are determined by DISCO-08, which is reported to the wage statistic. From 2010 the classification is changed, which means that the level for 2008-2009 are based on DISCO-88, while it from 2010 is based on DISCO-08. The changes are due to changes in the international classification behind: ISCO. The change causes the number of employees on highest level to increase with about 200,000 persons, while the number of employees on the middle level dropped proportional. The change had impact on among other large groups of employees all pedagogic work, some nursing work and some from the financial sector.

Changes in the data foundation LMA From 2019 and on unemployed and persons outside the labour force are also included in the statistic. Those are not included in the years 2008-2016 because a change in the data foundation LMA had to be done, before the populations primary attachment to the labour market could be calculated for every quarter of the year. This adjustment is done in connection to the publication in 2019, and therefore the statistic from 2019 and on contains information about the hole population with information about their primary attachment to the labour market 1st.-4th. quarter 2017. These small adjustments does not give rise to a revision of LMA 2008-2016, and therefore data on the hole population is only available from 2019 with information about the populations primary labour market attachment 1st.-4th. quarter 2017. The revision also means that there is a smaller data break between 2016 and 2017 in the series on employed persons 1st.-4th. quarter 2008-2017.

Coherence - cross domain

The number of people employed and unemployed in KAS deviates from other statistics. You can read more about the differences bellow:

Registerbased labour force statistic (RAS)

RAS is a status over the populations primary attachment to the labour market on the last work day of November, and has since 2015 used LMA as data foundation. LMA is also the data foundation of KAS and contains the same background information about persons (e.g. age, sex and ancestry) and workplace (e.g. industry, sector and municipality of work place). The difference between RAS and KAS is thus the calculation method and population. With LMA it is possible to determine the population's attachment to the labour market on every day of the year, and therefore possible to describe employment broader over the year instead of on a specific day like RAS. KAS is in contrast to RAS therefore an average calculation of the populations primary attachment to the labour market on every day in the quarter.

The opportunity of analyzing employment broader over the year has been sought especially by users of RAS. E.g. municipalities with significant employment in the tourism industry, and industries with seasonal fluctuations especially for self-employed. The purpose of KAS is therefore to provide a supplement for RAS that makes it possible to present the labour market attachment broader over the year.

Employment in Businesses (EiB)

The EiB and KAS have a common definition of the stock of employees at the end of November, but there are some jobs that are included in RAS and not in EiB and vice versa. First of all the person's primary connection to the labour market is calculated in KAS, while EiB includes both a person's most important job as well as other jobs the person may have at the end of November. Secondly persons, who are absent from employment (because of childcare leave, maternity leave or sickness benefit) at the end of November are considered to be employed in KAS, but not in EiB. Thirdly EiB only includes self-employed, who are liable to pay VAT or payroll tax or are employers, while RAS also includes employed who have the largest income during the year from self-employment. In the fourth place EiB only includes jobs in businesses with a certain minimum activity. Businesses with activities under a defined threshold are not included in the EiB.

Labour Force Survey (LFS)

LFS is an interview study. LFS uses the same by ILO internationally defined concept of employment as KAS. Since the ILO guidelines is pointed at survey-based statistics as LFS, the guidelines is adjusted to use for KAS. For that reason there are considerable deviations between LFS and KAS. If the socioeconomic status of employed persons is considered, there are relatively more self-employed and assisting spouses in LFS. The reason for this is among other things that people, who are share- or stockholders in the company where they are employed, are classified as an employee in KAS, while they often will describe themselves as self-employed when asked in the LFS. The same goes for assisting spouses with wage agreement, who in KAS are classified as employees. The distribution of the employees by skills also differs significantly between the two statistics.

Public Employment Statistic (PES)

The PES calculates the average number of jobs and the number of full-time employed persons each quarter within the public sector. The number of jobs includes all the jobs that the person has in the public sector at a given time. This means that the number of jobs is substantially higher than the number of persons employed in KAS.

Employment Statistic for Employees (ESE)

The ESE calculates the full-time employment and the number of employees on a quarterly basis. The calculation of full-time employment means that the level of employment in ESE will be lower than the level of employment in KAS. On the other side the number of employees is higher than in KAS. The reason is that some of the employees are classified as self-employed in RAS. That is the case when a person has a job as employee and at the same time is self-employed and the person works the most hours as self-employed.

Unemployment statistic The average full-time unemployment in the unemployment statistic is generally higher than the unemployment in RAS. There are two reasons for this; firstly unemployment is calculated in full-time equivalents in the unemployment statistic. Secondly, a portion of the gross unemployed are calculated as employed in RAS. The reason for this is that they are activated in a measure, where they are receiving wages. In such cases, they are classified as employed according to the international guidelines for employment statistics. In addition, a portion of the gross unemployed are calculated as employed in RAS. The reason for this is that they are activated in a measure, where they are receiving wages. In such cases, they are classified as employed according to the international guidelines for employment statistics.

Labour Market Account (LMA)

LMA is the data foundation of KAS.

The Working Time Account (WTA)

The estimation of employment in WTA is based on LMA. In WTA the employment is calculated

Coherence - internal

KAS is based on the Labour Market Account (LMA) which is compiled on a number of different sources. KAS is the result of an average calculation of the population's primary labour market attachment in every day in the quarter in LMA. Minor differences is however possible between the newest current version of LMA and KAS. That is because LMA is a more "lively" register where different improvements are done after the production of KAS.