CB clarifies employment numbers

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has observed media reports highlighting the employment numbers referred to in the CBSL Annual Reports of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Subsequent to the Census of Population and Housing (CPH) 2012 conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) covering the entire island, the Registrar General’s Department introduced changes to the Mid-Year Population Estimates (MYPE) and published a revised series.

Accordingly, in July 2016, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates were re-weighted by the DCS and a new series was published for data pertaining to the years from 2011 onwards. This is the general practice in all other countries and it maintains the consistency of LFS estimates with the revised MYPE (www.statistics.gov.lk/samplesurvey/Labour%20force%20Survey%20trends%20web.pdf and

www.statistics.gov.lk/samplesurvey/Re-weightingLFS.pdf). The CBSL accommodated the details of the re-weighted LFS estimates including the ‘Number Employed’ in its Annual Report 2016. A comparable series of LFS from 2013 onwards can be accessed in the Appendix Tables 56 and 57 of the CBSL Annual Report 2016 in addition to the details available in the DCS publications.

The LFS details, before re-weighting and after re-weighting, is presented below for the information of the general public.