Text table 8.1
Features of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH)

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Features of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH)
Comparison by LFS SEPH
Population Non-institutionalized civilian population aged 15  and over. Non-farm wage and salary jobs.
Type of survey Monthly sample survey of approximately 56,000  households. Monthly census of businesses (from administrative data),  plus a survey of 15,000 establishments for the earnings.
Major outputs Labour force, employment, unemployment, by  province, and associated rates with demographic details. Employment, earnings and hours with industry and geographic  details.
Reference period Calendar week that includes the 15th of the month. 1 The last seven days of the month. 2
Employment concept Estimate of employed persons (multiple jobholders  are counted only once). Includes individuals absent  from work without pay. Number of jobs (multiple jobholders counted for each  non-farm payroll job). Includes only those receiving pay  for the reference period.
Employment definition differences Includes the unincorporated self-employed, unpaid  family workers, agriculture, forestry, fishing and  hunting, religious organization workers, private  household workers, international and other extraterritorial  public administration and workers absent without pay. Excludes all of the groups listed in the column to the  left, except for forestry, logging and support activities  for forestry.
Size of month-to-month change in employment for a statistically significant movement +/- 47,000 for 90% confidence (updated twice a year). Based on a census, so there is no statistical uncertainty  associated with the employment estimates.
Benchmark adjustment to survey results No direct benchmark for employment. Adjustment to  underlying population every 5 years to the Canadian  Census. No benchmark adjustment.
Except for November and December, when the reference week is often one week earlier.
In fact, there is a mix of different periods, since pay period lengths and dates vary between employers and even between groups of employees working for the same employer. In all cases, the information for the most recent pay period is used in processing the administrative data.
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