Labour Force Survey to correct past errors

The statistics show that 51% of all households derive their income through salaries and wages, 19% indicated their main source of income as subsistence agriculture, 9.5% from remittances and only 7% listed business activities as the source of their main income.

The Namibia Statistics Agency will embark on the 2014 Labour Force Survey, scheduled to start on 29 September, to seek to correct past mistakes in unemployment calculations, particularly inconsistencies in data generation. The survey runs until 11 October.
The agency has finalised the preparation for the next round of the Labour Force Survey. Initially the survey used to be conducted every four years, but is now conducted on a yearly basis.
During the official launch this week, it was explained that the enumerators will be trained from next week in Otjiwarongo and Ondangwa respectively. Thereafter the official listing of the households will commence throughout the country before the initial enumeration starts on 29 September.
“To ensure that the survey will be conducted accordingly we have solicited the services of approximately 430 persons in the form of team supervisors, enumerators and coders. Their task is to ensure that we get up to date information on our labour market,” the NSA said.
From last year’s Labour Force Survey, it transpired that the unemployment rates of the population aged 15 years and above as measured by the broad definition translates to an overall unemployment rate of 29.6%, an increase of 2.2% compared to the 2012 rate of 27%.

Broad unemployment is defined as consisting of all the people within the economically active population or working age group who are either without work or available for work, irrespective of whether they are seeking work or not.
The survey collected data on the labour market activities of individuals aged 15 years and above who lived in Namibia during the reference period.
The agency noted that, for the sake of clarity hence, in the labour force framework the population is divided into two major groups; the active and inactive population. The economically inactive population includes all persons below the age of 15 years of age. This is due to the fact that those below 15 years are not considered legally employable as it borders on child labour.
In addition, the inactive population also covers all persons over 15 years of age who are not available for work since they are full-time learners or students, involved in household duties, ill, disabled or on early retirement. This section does not form part of the labour force and hence does not affect the employment / unemployment rate.
“The economically active population on the other hand, comprises persons within the working age group of 15 years and above with the exception of those classified as economically inactive,” the NSA said.
The unemployment rate is widely regarded as one of the key labour market indicators and a good measure of current economic activity.
The survey by the NSA revealed that the unemployment is 41.7% for the youth, 25.8% for males and 31% for females.