Periodic Labour Force Survey

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is a quarterly survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) of India to collect data on employment and unemployment. It was launched in April 2017 to provide more frequent data on labor market indicators, such as the employment rate, unemployment rate, and labor force participation rate. The PLFS involves a rotational panel data structure. This means that a subset of households is selected to be surveyed in each quarter, and the same households are surveyed multiple times over the course of the survey. This rotational panel design allows the PLFS to collect data on both the short-term and long-term dynamics of the labor market. While PLFS surveys are useful for state-level analysis, obtaining estimates at the district level is challenging due to the limited sample size.