THE INFORMATION IS NECESSARY FOR FURTHER MONITORING OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19.

COVID-19 has impacted the mode of data collection in numerous ways for the Central Statistical Office (CSO). Despite the many challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Statistical Office is firm in its commitment to fulfilling its mandate and for that very reason, has decided to suspend all face-to-face interviews and adopt telephone interviews for the conduct of surveys. Such a decision is in keeping with the respective protocols established for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this context, the Central Statistical Office wishes to inform the general public that it will be implementing the second quarter of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) via telephone interviews. This will allow for the continued production and compilation of critical Labour Market Information, which is necessary for further monitoring of the socio-economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

The Labour Force Survey questionnaire content remains unchanged and will maintain the use of the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) platform, which is carried-out via a Tablet. The interviewing time is expected to be approximately twenty (20) minutes.

The data collection for the second quarter Labour Force Survey (i.e. April to June 2020) will commence on May 23, 2020. The Central Statistical Office is therefore seeking the support and cooperation of the general public to successful implement the new mode of data collection for the Labour Force Survey.