This section deals with the economic activity of all who are 15 years old and over. Questions 23 to 24 apply to those answering [30] in Question 22.

22. Economic activity past week

What did (N) [the respondent] do during the past week?

The main purpose of this section is to determine which individuals have been engaged in economic activity, that is, the production of goods and services during the week preceding enumeration and at any time during the past 12 months and those who were not so engaged. It is essential that the enumerator understands the concept of the term work as given in question (22) and makes use of it in his interviews.

Question 22 - Economic activity during the past week

This question aims at classifying persons according to their economic activity during the week preceding enumeration. It is also intended to distinguish between persons who worked, those who sought work and those who did not seek work. The possible responses and definitions are given hereunder.

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10. Had a job, worked

An individual is classified as having worked if he/she was engaged in the production of goods and or services, whether the job was temporary or even less than a week. Priority is given to worked/with a job over any other activity. e.g. if during the week prior to enumeration, the individual worked for two days and looked for work for three days, he is to be classified as worked.

Priority is given to economic activity in the reference week of enumeration beginning with had a job /worked, had a job/did not work and seeking work over such activities as home duties.

It is worth repeating for emphasis that temporary employment during the past week, regardless of the nature of the job, for example, the Unemployment Relief Program (URP) employees, porters, car wash attendants, labourers, street venders, etc. must be recorded as having a job. Probe eligible respondents for evidence of temporary and ad hoc nature of employment.

However, care must be taken not to capture information on full-time students who perform odd jobs. Remember the purpose of the question is to distinguish between economically active persons from those who are not.

However, if for whatever reason, i.e. during the school vacation, a person who is normally a student is found working i.e. holding a job during the reference week preceding the enumeration, he/she is to be recorded as "had a job/worked".

Similarly, there will be cases of persons attending university or other type of educational institutions holding jobs and working part time. In these instances, economic activity/work is given priority over non-economic activity.

A housewife who foremost performs home duties, if engaged in economic activity during the week preceding enumeration, must be considered as "had a job/worked".

Usually working/with a job entails the person receiving a wage, salary or other form of compensation, but trainees and apprentices whether paid or not, as well as unpaid helpers and family workers on commercial farms and other enterprises are also to be listed as worked.

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Examples of work are:

Persons working for pay

Persons working without pay

11. Had a Job, did not work
Anyone who during the week preceding the enumeration (reference week) had a job, according to the definition above, but who did not work at all during that week, should be considered as "had a job but did not work".

This is straightforward in the case of employees who are away from their jobs during the week under review, either on vacation, maternity leave, on sick leave or on short lay-off with pay but with instructions to return to work at a given date. Also included are persons engaging in industrial dispute.

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In the case of employers, self-employed persons and odd job persons, there may be need, sometimes, to give more thought. For example, if one of these categories of persons (Own Account) did not work during the reference week for reasons of illness, or there was no more work to do or for any other reason, then he/she "Had a job but did not work".

20. Persons seeking first job

Persons seeking first job include those who never worked, but were actively seeking work during the past week. Note, however, you must ensure that the person does not hold a temporary or part-time job since "working" holds priority over "not working". Persons seeking first job is an important category since it assists in identifying new entrants into the labour force and thus those without past work experience.

21. Others actively seeking work

Include persons previously employed and not currently employed but actively seeking work during the past week.

30. Did not look for work

Include persons who did not work nor had a job and did not look for work past week.

It applies to: Persons who did not work nor had a job past week but may have looked for work previous to the reference week and still wanted work.

Persons who are not economically active such as full-time students, homemakers (housewives), retirees, old age pensioners and those who did not want work.