Beginning this year, the Labour Force Survey reverts to its twice – a-year schedule. Since 2008, the LFS has been conducted only once a year (every October). The April round of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) which was last conducted in 2007 resumes this year and will commence on April 26 and end on May 26, 2015.

“The conduct of the LFS twice a year is expected to present a more accurate picture of the employment situation in the country as it takes into account the seasonality of employment opportunities,” stated the Hon. Marco Archer, Minister for Finance and Economic Development.

The LFS, which is implemented by the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) seeks to collect data on the employed and unemployed persons in the Cayman Islands, as well as those who are not in the labour force. The last LFS conducted in October 2014 showed the labour force reaching 39,582 persons, of which 37,723 were employed while 1,859 were unemployed. The unemployment rate was estimated at 4.7 percent.

Trained interviewers from the ESO will visit a total of 1,400 randomly selected sample households in the three Islands over a four-week period. The ESO once again appeals to the public for its full cooperation with the interviewers, and to provide the necessary information, which will be collected under the Statistics Law (2011 Revision). The interviews are confidential, and no individual data will be used for publication or disclosed to parties outside of the ESO. ESO survey data are exempt from Freedom of Information.

For further information on any aspect of the survey, or results of previous surveys, contact the Economics & Statistics Office at 949-0940 or visit www.eso.ky