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Introduction
The importance of employment as a pathway to economic development, social inclusion and well-being has long been recognised. As well as being at the heart of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, employment is a central element in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which places emphasis on promoting productive employment and decent work for all (Goal 8).
In this context, statistics on employment are crucial to monitor progress towards many national and international policy goals. These statistics must not just quantify work and people in employment but also provide meaningful information on the types of jobs people are doing.
The international statistical standards relating to employment have undergone significant changes over time, designed to improve their relevance and depth for policy makers. The most significant of these changes came at the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013 when the international community adopted the first statistical definition of work alongside a forms of work framework. Within the new framework, employment is defined as work performed in return for pay or profit. This is narrower than the scope of the previous definition which included some unpaid activities such as subsistence work.Â
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Methods
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Labour Force Statistics (LFS, STLFS, RURBAN databases)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour force statistics in various databases (LFS, STLFS, RURBAN).

Work Statistics – 19th ICLS (WORK database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for (paid and unpaid) work statistics based on the 19th ICLS standards.

Labour Market-Related SDG Indicators (ILOSDG database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour market-related sustainable development indicators.
ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST database)
Discover the methods behind the ILO’s modelled estimates on labour force statistics (including the working poor), labour productivity, wage growth and labour migration.

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC)
ISIC is a standard classification of economic activities arranged so that entities can be classified according to the activity they carry out.

International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)
ISCO is a statistical framework that organizes jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job.

International Classifications of Status in Employment and Status at Work (ICSE and ICSaW)
See the latest international classifications for all forms of work and for employment according to type of authority and economic risk.
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