For perhaps the first time in its history, the Office for National Statistics does not know how many employed, unemployed and economically inactive people there are in the country. This morning, the monthly labour market figures were due to be published. But late last week news slipped out that the employment portion of the release would have to be delayed. The reason: plummeting survey response rates.
You simply cannot make decisions about which levers to pull if we do not know how many people are in work
Each month, Britain’s statisticians work out how many people there are in the workforce based on responses to a national ‘Labour Force Survey’. But for the last few years, the quality of that survey has diminished. Ten years ago more than half the households questioned would respond. By the end of 2019, it had fallen to just under 40 per cent. Now it’s less than 15 per cent.
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