Current Weekly Status Approach

Current Weekly Status (CWS) classifies a person according to employment-related activity during the seven days preceding the survey date. It uses short minimum-duration tests to place the person among the employed, unemployed, or those outside the labour force.

Classification sequence

CWS follows a priority rule: employment takes precedence over unemployment, which takes precedence over being outside the labour force.

• A person is employed if they performed any economic activity for at least one hour on at least one day during the reference week.
• A person is unemployed if they did not work even for one hour during the week, but sought or were available for work for at least one hour on at least one day.
• A person is outside the labour force if they neither worked nor sought or were available for work under these tests.

Meaning of the resulting categories

The labour force consists of persons classified as employed or unemployed. Thus, a person who worked briefly during the week is classified as employed even if they also sought additional work.

Indicators and significance

CWS-based data are used to calculate the Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio, and Unemployment Rate. The short reference period makes CWS sensitive to temporary unemployment and short-term changes in labour-market activity, unlike usual-status measures based on a longer reference period.