IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2020 indicate large movements out of the "other not economically active" category to "employed" and "unemployed" between quarter 2 and quarter 3 2020. The number of employed persons increased by 543 000 to 14,7 million compared to the second quarter of 2020. Unemployment increased substantially by 2,2 million to 6,5 million compared to quarter 2 of 2020 resulting in an increase of 2,8 million (up by 15,1%) in the number of people in the labour force. The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 225 000 and the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 2,9 million between the two quarters, resulting in a net decrease of 2,6 million in the not economically active population. The movement was proportionately more towards the unemployed than for the employed, which resulted in a significant increase of 7,5 percentage points in the official unemployment rate to 30,8%. The unemployment rate according to the expanded definition of unemployment increased by 1,1 percentage points to 43,1% in quarter 3 2020 compared to quarter 2 2020.