From employment and unemployment survey to labour force survey in India: Distribution of sample and efficiency of estimates

The dramatic increase in unemployment rate in PLFS from the earlier rounds on employment and unemployment survey raises a lot of debates about employment issues very recently in the public domain. Against this backdrop this study attempts to focus on some methodological issues of PLFS and draws some inferences on the efficiency of different estimates from the labour force survey in India. We also compare some aspects of sample designs used in periodic labour force survey and in employment and unemployment survey to have some idea about the comparability between these two types of survey on the similar issue. The stratification criteria, both at the first stage and the second stage, in periodic labour force survey are different from those in the earlier employment and unemployment survey. The formation of different strata in periodic labour force survey is more appropriate to capture employment and unemployment situation in India.