ISTAT - Istituto Nazionale di Statistica
ESS Standard for Quality Report Structure (ESQRS) V2 (ESQRS_MSD 3.0 ESTAT)
Job Vacancy Statistics (JVS)
2014 - A0
1. Contact
1.1 Contact organisation

Istat (Italian National Institute of Statistics)

1.2 Contact organisation unit

Short-term Employment and Income Statistics Division
Short-term Economic Statistics Directorate
National Accounts and Economic Statistics Department

1.3 Contact name
1.4 Contact person function
1.5 Contact mail address

Via Tuscolana, 1788 - 00173 Rome - Italy

1.6 Contact email address
1.7 Contact phone number
1.8 Contact fax number
2. Statistical presentation
2.1 Data description

These metadata refer to the first releases of the 2014 data, that is to the data transmitted for the 45 and 70-day EU Regulation deadlines. It does not refer to the revisions of the 2014 data disseminated in June 2015, together with the data for 2015Q1. The only exception is the table on June 2015 revisions in 6.6, where the data for 2014 disseminated for the 70-day regulation deadlines are compared with the June 2015 revisions.

2.2 Classification system

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.3 Coverage - sector

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.4 Statistical concepts and definitions

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.5 Statistical unit

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.6 Statistical population

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.7 Reference area

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.8 Coverage - Time

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.9 Base period

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

3. Statistical processing

see below

3.1 Source data

Identification of the source of the data

Since 2012, data for both job vacancies and occupied posts are collected separately for enterprises with 10-499 employees and enterprises with at least 500 employees. For enterprises with 10-499 employees, data are collected by the Istat quarterly survey on job vacancies and hours worked (VELA). For enterprises with at least 500 employees data are collected by an extended quarterly version of a well-established census monthly Istat survey on employment, hours worked, wages and labour cost in large enterprises (LES).

Coverage

- Geographical

the whole country

- NACE

NACE: sections B to S, except O, of Nace Rev. 2

- Enterprise size

enterprise size: 10+ employees

Definition of the statistical unit

enterprise

Remarks

 

Sampling design

Base used for the sample

Both VELA and LES surveys employ the last version of the statistical business register (SBR) available at the time when the sample is drawn. For the 2014 sample, the 2011 SBR release was used.

Sampling design

The LES survey includes in its sample all the enterprises in the population with at least 500 employees. The VELA survey is based on a sample of around 15,100 enterprises with 10-499 employees, drawn via a stratified random scheme from the SBR. The VELA sample is allocated via a constrained optimisation method (where the sample size is minimised under constraints on the maximum values of the expected coefficients of variation for the interest variables in the study domains).

Retention/renewal of sampling units

Once a year (for the wave referring to the first quarter):

- the list of all the population enterprises with at least 500 employees is updated on the basis of the SBR most recently available version, and

- around one third of the 10-499 employee sample enterprises is rotated.

Sample size

around 16,600 enterprises

Stratification

Economic activity, size and geographical area are used as stratification variables for the VELA sample. The considered stratification classes are the following:

- for economic activity: divisions from 05 to 36 and from 45 to 47; the aggregate of divisions 37, 38 and 39; sections F, and from H to S (excluding O);

- for size (in terms of employees): 10-19, 20-99 and 100-499;

- for geographical area: North, Centre and South (this last class includes also Sardinia and Sicily).

Sampling fractions: see table below

Economic activity (Nace Rev. 2) 10-499 employees   500+ employees(a)   10+ employees
sample firms SBR firms sampling fraction   sample firms SBR firms sampling fraction   sample firms SBR firms sampling fraction
B 439 525 83.6   1 1 100.0   440 526 83.7
C 4,631 65,164 7.1   461 474 97.3   5,092 65,638 7.8
D 266 483 55.1   17 21 81.0   283 504 56.2
E 785 2,272 34.6   35 38 92.1   820 2,310 35.5
F 1,300 22,522 5.8   25 29 86.2   1,325 22,551 5.9
G 1,155 32,974 3.5   194 209 92.8   1,349 33,183 4.1
H 1,095 11,794 9.3   117 128 91.4   1,212 11,922 10.2
I 2,197 14,330 15.3   48 51 94.1   2,245 14,381 15.6
J 616 5,530 11.1   75 77 97.4   691 5,607 12.3
K 438 1,917 22.8   112 123 91.1   550 2,040 27.0
L 286 601 47.6   1 2                      50.0   287 603 47.6
M 646 6,662 9.7   41 42 97.6   687 6,704 10.2
N 679 10,344 6.6   192 212 90.6   871 10,556 8.3
P 265 1,434 18.5   0 0 -   265 1,434 18.5
Q 359 5,702 6.3   79 85 92.9   438 5,787 7.6
R 393 2,172 18.1   10 11 90.9   403 2,183 18.5
S 215 2,788 7.7   5 5 100.0   220 2,793 7.9
Total B-S 15,765 187,214 8.4   1,413 1,508 93.7   17,178 188,722 9.1

 

Other sources

Maintenance agency

 

Updating frequency

 

Rules for clearance (of outdated information)

 

Voluntary/compulsory reporting and sanctions

 

Remarks

 

3.2 Frequency of data collection

Reference dates

 The last day of the reference quarter.

3.3 Data collection

Brief description of the data collection method(s)

Remarks

As mentioned above in 3.1, since 2012, data are collected separately for enterprises with 10-499 employees and enterprises with at least 500 employees. For enterprises with 10-499 employees, data on job vacancies and occupied posts are collected by VELA, mainly via CATI and Web (a small share of questionnaires are transmitted by email and are registered by the CATI operators). On average, in 2014, about 67% of the respondents have been interviewed through CATI (or they have sent their data via email and these data have been registered by the CATI operators) while the remaining 33% responded on the Web. The first time an enterprise is included in the sample, it is requested to respond via CATI, while afterwards it can opt for the Web mode. For enterprises with at least 500 employees, data on job vacancies and occupied posts are collected by LES, mainly via Web, while a small share of questionnaires are transmitted by email. On average, in 2014, about 86% of the LES respondents have completed the questionnaire via Web, while the remaining 14% have sent their data by email.

 

3.4 Data validation

Not requested.

3.5 Data compilation

Brief description of the weighting method

Weighting dimensions

Unit non responses in enterprises with at least 500 employees are imputed.

All responding enterprises and the unit non response imputed records are assigned a weight via calibration. The only exception is a small list of extremely large enterprises which are assigned a unit weight.

The theoretical reference population for the calibration is made by all the enterprises with at least 10 employees in Nace Rev. 2 sections B to S which were active in the reference quarter. This population is well represented by the set of microdata of the OROS survey for the reference quarter. The OROS survey is based on the social security database of the forms that all enterprises (with at least one hour of remunerated work) have to fill each month to pay the compulsory social contributions. It is this set of microdata that is therefore used to derive the calibration constraints. The quarterly average of monthly data on jobs, as measured by OROS, is used as the auxiliary variable in the calibration.

The calibration classes are based on economic activity and enterprise size. Starting from 2010, the economic activity classes for calibration are based on Nace Rev. 2 divisions for sections from C to E, G and N, while they are based on sections for B, F, and from H to M and P to S. The considered size classes are based on employees and are thus defined: 10-19, 20-99, 100-499 and at least 500.

The initial calibration weights are based on both inclusion probabilities and response rates.

The calibration is carried out using a generalized software purposely built by Istat, Genesees, and within it, a truncated logarithmic distance function.

See the description of weighting methods.

3.6 Adjustment

Not requested.

4. Quality management
4.1 Quality assurance

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

4.2 Quality management - assessment

Not requested.

5. Relevance

see below

5.1 Relevance - User Needs

Description of the national users and their main needs

Remarks

 Not requested.

 

5.2 Relevance - User Satisfaction

Extent to which the needs of national users are satisfied (voluntary)

Remarks

Not requested.

 

5.3 Completeness

Description of missing variables and missing breakdowns of the variables

Report progress on the implementation measures regarding quarterly job vacancies statistics of Regulation (EC) No 453/2008, including :

- a detailed plan and timetable for completing implementation

- a summary of the remaining deviations from EU concepts

 No missing variables or breakdown.

The Italian statistics on job vacancies for 2014 do not cover:

  - enterprises with 1-9 employees and

  - public institutions.

Istat intends to start producing and transmitting data covering also enterprises with 5-9 employees (and possibly also those with 1-4 employees) starting from the data transmission for 2017Q1, with series starting from 2016Q1.

  So far, there is no plan to extend the coverage to public institutions.

  Deviation from EU concepts:

 - job vacancies do not include those for managers. However, these vacancies will be included in the produced and transmitted figures starting from 2016Q1;

 - job vacancies and occupied posts for employees of the temporary work agencies (including temporary workers) are not included in the published figures. Figures for agency workers are not included either in the data of the enterprises where they actually work.

5.3.1 Data completeness - rate

Not requested.

6. Accuracy and reliability

see below

6.1 Accuracy - overall

see below

6.2 Sampling error

see 6.2.1

6.2.1 Sampling error - indicators
6.3 Non-sampling error

Information on variables with non-negligible measurement and processing errors

Information on main sources of (non-negligible) measurement and processing errors and, if available, on methods applied for correction

Estimation bias: An assessment of the non-sampling errors, in terms of the absolute number of vacant posts,  for the total number of job vacancies and, where possible, for aggregation level of NACE Rev. 2 specified in Annex 1 to this Regulation and size classes (1-9, 10 + employees).

Remarks

Number of occupied posts.

For all the enterprises with 10-499 employees, occupied posts are checked by comparing them with the OROS microdata: if the data collected by the two sources differ substantially and there are signals that the difference is due to problems in those of the VELA survey, occupied posts are imputed by a nearest neighbour donor imputation, using OROS employment as matching variable. For large enterprises (500+ employees), occupied posts collected and edited by the monthly survey LES are used. They are very accurate, due to the work of Istat experts who follow each enterprise along time.

 None.

 

6.3.1 Coverage error

Description of any difference between the reference population and the study population

Description of classification errors

Description of any difference between the reference dates and the reference quarter

Any other relevant information

The main difference between the reference and the study population depends on the enterprises beginning and finishing their activities in the reference population between the SBR reference year and the survey reference quarter. An attempt at measuring these errors is made, on the basis of the assumption that the OROS list for the reference quarter is a better representation of the population of enterprises with at least 10 employees which were active in the quarter than the most recent version of the SBR.

See the following tables:

 

- coverage errors 1: Firms in the 2011 SBR and in the sample drawn from it which are not in the average grossing up reference population (OROS) for 2014, by Nace rev. 2 section

 

Economic activity (Nace Rev. 2) sample firms   firms in the population lists
total in OROS not in OROS (%)   in the 2011 SBR both in the 2011 SBR and in OROS 2014 not in OROS 2014 (%)
B 440 396 10.0   526 490 6.9
C 5,092 4,585 10.0   65,638 56,269 14.3
D 283 272 4.1   504 456 9.5
E 820 736 10.3   2,310 2,082 9.9
F 1,325 1,140 13.9   22,551 17,878 20.7
G 1,349 1,280 5.1   33,183 28,721 13.4
H 1,212 933 23.0   11,922 8,983 24.7
I 2,245 1,929 14.1   14,382 11,900 17.3
J 691 615 11.0   5,607 4,856 13.4
K 550 502 8.8   2,040 1,758 13.8
L 287 160 44.3   603 458 24.1
M 687 603 12.3   6,704 5,761 14.1
N 871 733 15.9   10,557 7,937 24.8
P 265 237 10.8   1434 1,239 13.6
Q 438 417 4.9   5787 5,204 10.1
R 403 307 23.8   2183 1,596 26.9
S 220 196 10.9   2793 2,344 16.1
Total B-S 17,178 15,038 12.5   188,724 157,929 16.3

 

- coverage errors 2: enterprises in the average 2014 OROS list which are not in the 2011 SBR, by Nace rev. 2 section

Economic activity (Nace Rev. 2) firms in the 2014 OROS list firms in the 2011 SBR and in the 2014 OROS list firms not in the 2011 SBR (%)
B 400 353 11.9
C 57,190 47,611 16.8
D 521 409 21.5
E 2,110 1,811 14.2
F 15,541 11,271 27.5
G 28,235 22,047 21.9
H 10,913 7,137 34.6
I 15,213 8,452 44.4
J 5,098 3,823 25.0
K 1,865 1,490 20.1
L 810 267 67.0
M 5,901 4,325 26.7
N 9,843 6,121 37.8
P 1,469 1,018 30.7
Q 5,744 4,589 20.1
R 2,008 1,126 43.9
S 2,640 1,861 29.5
Total B-S 165,500 123,708 25.3

Note that the comparisons with OROS are based on the averages of the figures obtained considering OROS for each of the four quarters of 2014.

Firms with different economic activity sections or size classes(a) in the 2011 SBR or in the sample drawn from it with respect to the average for the 2014 OROS list, by Nace rev. 2 section

 

Economic activity (Nace Rev. 2) sample firms   SBR firms
with different economic activity sections (%) with different size classes (%)   with different economic activity sections (%) with different size classes (%)
B 5.4 11.6   5.5 11.1
C 0.9 12.7   1.0 11.4
D 4.0 13.5   5.0 15.0
E 3.1 14.9   2.6 14.7
F 1.0 16.7   1.2 14.4
G 1.6 13.0   1.7 11.6
H 1.7 19.4   1.4 17.7
I 1.2 17.9   0.6 17.1
J 4.4 19.3   3.2 17.0
K 1.6 13.0   2.5 12.7
L 28.9 15.8   22.3 15.1
M 5.9 13.7   5.7 12.8
N 3.9 22.3   4.3 22.1
P 2.2 20.4   1.9 17.3
Q 0.7 14.7   1.8 16.0
R 2.7 32.7   3.3 24.1
S 6.1 18.8   4.4 13.5
Total B-S 2.4 15.7   1.8 13.8

(a) The considered size classes are: 10-19 employees, 20-99 employees, 100-499 employees and 500+ employees. While the size class in the SBR and in the sample are based on the number of employees in the SBR (that is on the average number of employees in 2011), the size class in OROS in each reference quarter is based on the number of employees in the reference quarter itself (measured as the average of the number of employees to whom at least one hour of work has been paid in each of the three months of the quarter).

The reference date for both job vacancies and occupied posts is the last day of the reference quarter.

 

6.3.1.1 Over-coverage - rate

see 6.3.1

6.3.1.2 Common units - proportion

Not requested.

6.3.2 Measurement error

see 6.3.4.1

6.3.3 Non response error

see below

6.3.3.1 Unit non-response - rate

Unit response rate

See the following table for unit response rates (as the percentage ratios between the number of respondents and the number of contacted enterprises in the quarter) by economic activity.

 

Economic activity (Nace Rev. 2) 2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2014 Mean
           
B 81.7 83.4 83.6 83.8 83.1
C 80.1 80.1 79.9 83.5 80.9
D 91.7 90.1 91.5 89.6 90.7
E 73.9 74.8 75.7 79.4 76.0
F 67.5 68.0 66.8 70.2 68.1
G 80.3 82.0 80.3 83.3 81.5
H 56.8 56.8 58.3 60.9 58.2
I 65.4 63.8 64.1 71.8 66.3
J 73.1 72.9 73.9 79.1 74.8
K 81.2 85.2 85.2 88.3 85.0
L 62.4 65.4 67.4 72.4 66.9
M 76.7 75.7 76.6 84.0 78.2
N 62.4 63.6 63.3 66.0 63.8
P 74.3 68.5 73.3 81.0 74.3
Q 77.9 75.7 77.1 83.2 78.5
R 53.3 52.0 54.8 61.5 55.4
S 65.8 65.6 63.7 69.0 66.0
Total B-S 73.0 73.0 73.3 77.5 74.2
6.3.3.2 Item non-response - rate

see 6.3.4.1

6.3.4 Processing error

see below

6.3.4.1 Imputation - rate

Item imputation rate and methods and, where possible, the effect of imputation on the estimates for the variables transmitted

 

 

quarter year respondents (including the imputed unit nonresponses) imputed unit nonresponse imputed measurement errors imputed unit nonresponse (percentage) imputed measurement errors (percentage)
             
1 2014 11,903 251 30 2.1 0.3
2 2014 9,234 247 31 2.7 0.3
3 2014 11,845 219 36 1.8 0.3
4 2014 12,106 251 46 2.1 0.4
             

Imputation of occupied posts (as described in 6.3).

Job vacancies (for non responding 500+ employee enterprises and for the smaller sample enterprises with item non responses) by nearest neighbour donor imputation.

6.3.5 Model assumption error

If modelling is used, include a description of the models used. Particular emphasis should be given to models for imputation or grossing-up to correct for unit non-response.

 Job vacancies imputation methods:

• in enterprises with less than 10,000 employees: by hot deck nearest neighbour donation (variables in the distance function: occupied posts, lagged job vacancy rates, lagged hiring rates, lagged occupied posts’ growth rate);

• in enterprises with at least 10,000 employees: if sufficient auxiliary information is available, on the basis of a time series model on the data of the concerned enterprise, with lagged job vacancy and hiring rates among the regressors.

Grossing up is done by calibrating to the known totals of the OROS measure of occupied posts in cells defined by economic activity and size.

This procedure is used also as correction for unit non response, under the assumption that the response probability is constant among enterprises within each calibration cell.

6.4 Seasonal adjustment

[Not requested]

6.5 Data revision - policy

see 6.6

6.6 Data revision - practice

Provide a revision history, including the revisions in the published number of job vacancies and a summary of the reasons for the revisions.

Each year in June, when the data for the first quarter of a year are published, revisions of the previous eight quarters are also disseminated.

Reasons for revisions:

- inclusion of late responses (i.e. arrived after the first publication of the quarterly figures);

- the revision of the auxiliary sources which are used for editing and imputation and calibration.

See the following table for a comparison of figures for 2014 transmitted for the 70-day regulation deadline with those disseminated in June 2015.

SECTION YEAR QUARTER REVISED JVR ORIGINAL JVR DIFFERENCE (REVISED-ORIGINAL)
B 2014 1 0.1 0.1 0.0
C 2014 1 0.6 0.6 0.0
D 2014 1 1.5 1.5 0.0
E 2014 1 0.3 0.3 0.0
F 2014 1 0.6 0.6 0.0
G 2014 1 0.6 0.6 0.0
H 2014 1 0.3 0.3 0.0
I 2014 1 1.6 1.5 0.1
J 2014 1 0.8 0.8 0.0
K 2014 1 0.5 0.5 0.0
L 2014 1 0.4 0.4 0.0
M 2014 1 1.3 1.3 0.0
N 2014 1 0.4 0.4 0.0
P 2014 1 0.4 0.4 0.0
Q 2014 1 0.6 0.5 0.1
R 2014 1 2.1 2.3 -0.2
S 2014 1 0.6 0.6 0.0
Tot 2014 1 0.6 0.6 0.0
B 2014 2 0.3 0.3 0.0
C 2014 2 0.5 0.4 0.1
D 2014 2 0.3 0.3 0.0
E 2014 2 0.3 0.4 -0.1
F 2014 2 0.6 0.6 0.0
G 2014 2 0.7 0.6 0.1
H 2014 2 0.3 0.3 0.0
I 2014 2 1.1 1.0 0.1
J 2014 2 0.7 0.7 0.0
K 2014 2 0.3 0.3 0.0
L 2014 2 0.2 0.2 0.0
M 2014 2 0.8 0.8 0.0
N 2014 2 0.6 0.6 0.0
P 2014 2 0.4 0.4 0.0
Q 2014 2 0.5 0.6 -0.1
R 2014 2 1.5 1.7 -0.2
S 2014 2 1.0 0.9 0.1
Tot 2014 2 0.6 0.5 0.1
B 2014 3 0.1 0.1 0.0
C 2014 3 0.5 0.5 0.0
D 2014 3 0.2 0.3 -0.1
E 2014 3 0.3 0.3 0.0
F 2014 3 0.6 0.7 -0.1
G 2014 3 0.5 0.5 0.0
H 2014 3 0.3 0.2 0.1
I 2014 3 0.7 0.7 0.0
J 2014 3 0.8 0.8 0.0
K 2014 3 0.4 0.4 0.0
L 2014 3 0.1 0.1 0.0
M 2014 3 0.8 0.7 0.1
N 2014 3 0.3 0.3 0.0
P 2014 3 0.5 0.5 0.0
Q 2014 3 0.5 0.5 0.0
R 2014 3 0.6 0.6 0.0
S 2014 3 0.6 0.6 0.0
Tot 2014 3 0.5 0.5 0.0
B 2014 4 0.0 0.0 0.0
C 2014 4 0.5 0.5 0.0
D 2014 4 0.2 0.2 0.0
E 2014 4 0.2 0.2 0.0
F 2014 4 0.7 0.7 0.0
G 2014 4 0.4 0.4 0.0
H 2014 4 0.2 0.2 0.0
I 2014 4 0.6 0.6 0.0
J 2014 4 0.8 0.8 0.0
K 2014 4 0.3 0.4 -0.1
L 2014 4 0.4 0.4 0.0
M 2014 4 0.8 0.8 0.0
N 2014 4 0.3 0.3 0.0
P 2014 4 0.3 0.3 0.0
Q 2014 4 0.5 0.5 0.0
R 2014 4 0.4 0.5 -0.1
S 2014 4 0.2 0.1 0.1
Tot 2014 4 0.4 0.4 0.0

 

Furthermore, the preliminary confidential estimates for the entire reference population, which are transmitted to Eurostat within 45 days from the end of the reference quarter, can be revised when the data for the Nace Rev. 2 sections for that quarter are produced for the 70-day regulation deadline: see the following table.

quarter year JVR for 45 day deadline JVR for 70 day deadline Difference (70 days - 45 days)
         
1 2014 0.6 0.6 0.0
2 2014 0.5 0.5 0.0
3 2014 0.5 0.5 0.0
4 2014 0.4 0.4 0.0

 

6.6.1 Data revision - average size

see 6.6

7. Timeliness and punctuality

see below

7.1 Timeliness

see below

7.1.1 Time lag - first result

[Not requested]

7.1.2 Time lag - final result

Not requested.

7.2 Punctuality

see below

7.2.1 Punctuality - delivery and publication

Deadlines for the respondents to reply, also covering recalls and follow-ups

Period of the fieldwork

Period of data processing

Dates of publication of first results

Remarks

On the whole, around 50 days on average are allowed for replies for the first, third and fourth quarters data:

- enterprises have about 40 days from the end of the reference quarter to reply,

- the following week is dedicated to follow-up of non respondents.

Due to the enterprises summer holiday period (that for most of them takes place in August), for the data for the second quarter, almost 80 days are allowed for replies:

- enterprises have about 70 days from the end of the reference quarter to reply,

- the following week is dedicated to follow-up of non respondents.

In general, for the data for the first, third and fourth quarters, the CATI data collection period lasts about 33 days (from 7 to 40 days after the end of the reference quarter). An exceptional extension of the CATI data collection period can be granted when a newly updated sample contains more enterprises for which telephone numbers have not been tested in previous survey waves (that is for the first quarter of a year wave).

For the data for the second quarter, the CATI data collection period goes from the 7th to the 40th day after the reference quarter and from the 55th to the 70th day.

The same data collection periods apply also to the Web mode.

The follow up of non respondents lasts approximately one working week.

Three working days for the preliminary estimates (at 45 days after the end of the reference quarter); five working days for the national release and the production of the figures for the 70-day EU Regulation deadline.

Preliminary confidential estimates within 45 days from the end of the reference quarter, only for the entire reference population.

For the estimates by Nace Rev. 2 section: transmission to Eurostat within the 70 day EU Regulation deadline; press releases in Italy for data for 2014 around 77 days after the end of the reference quarter.

 

8. Coherence and comparability

see below

8.1 Comparability - geographical

Information on differences between national and European concepts, and — to the extent possible — their effects on the estimation.

Job vacancies for managers are not considered.

There is no estimate of the effects of this exclusion on the disseminated aggregate data. However, since the share of employees which are managers is very low these effects should be negligible.

Furthermore, these vacancies will be included in the figures produced and transmitted starting from 2016Q1.

8.1.1 Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient

Not requested.

8.2 Comparability - over time

Information on changes in definitions, coverage and methods in any two consecutive quarters, and their effects on the estimation.

Remarks

Starting from the fourth quarter 2007, data have been collected referring to the Nace Rev. 2 classification, while previously they had been collected on the basis of the Nace Rev. 1.1.

The time series for the Nace Rev. 2 B to N sections have been calculated after the transition to this new classification version also for the period from the first quarter 2004 to the third quarter 2007.

However, due to some relevant differences in the definitions of the sections in the two Nace versions, data for some service sections (in particular, Nace Rev. 2 sections M and N) referring to the period before the fourth quarter 2007 are less accurate and thus less comparable with current data.

Moreover, data referring to Nace Rev.2 section L for the period before the fourth quarter 2007 are not very accurate, due to the very small number of respondents.

Finally, data referring to the economic activities in section E (and to a lesser extent J) which were not included in Nace Rev 1.1 sections C-K are completely reconstructed at the macro level for the period before the fourth quarter 2007 and are therefore not very accurate.

Starting the first quarter 2010 the coverage of job vacancy statistics has been extended from 10+ employee private enterprises in Nace Rev. 2 B to N sections to 10+ employee private enterprises in Nace Rev. 2 B to N and P to S sections. The data on sections P to S have been published starting from December 2013.

 

8.2.1 Length of comparable time series

see 8.2

8.3 Coherence - cross domain

Comparisons of data on the number of vacant jobs from other relevant sources when available, in total and broken down by NACE at section level when relevant, and reasons if the values differ considerably.

No other source of vacant jobs is available for comparison.
The Beveridge curve (see below) seems coherent with the economic cycle experienced by the country. The job vacancy rate seems to give meaningful signals on the developments on the demand side of the labour market.
This happens even if the job vacancy rate does not refer to the entire economy. 

Country Italy Beveridge Curve for Italy                                
Section 2010Q4 2011Q1 2011Q2 2011Q3 2011Q4 2012Q1 2012Q2 2012Q3 2012Q4 2013Q1 2013Q2 2013Q3 2013Q4 2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1
UR 8.4 8.3 8.1 8.2 8.4 9.0 9.6 10.2 10.7 11.2 11.5 11.9 12.2 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.6
JVR 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6

Unemployment rate (%) UR*

Job vacancy rate (%) JVR*

*JVR and UR data are averaged over four quarters (e.g., the figure for 2014q4 is calculated as an average of 2014q1, 2014q2, 2014q3 and 2014q4).

 

see Annex 1

 

As it can be seen in the following figure and table, in 2014 occupied posts at the denominator of the job vacancy rate represent around half of all the LFS employees. This is due to the fact that job vacancy statistics do not cover businesses with less than 10 employees or public institutions. The difference between LFS employees and occupied posts is therefore especially large in the Nace sections where the share of employment in 1-9 employee businesses or public institutions is bigger.

 

Country IT    
Section Employees* (LFS data) Posts (JVS data)** Relative difference between the numbers of employees and posts
B 35,156 23,667 49%
C 3,582,333 2,554,286 40%
D 102,559 78,648 30%
E 215,860 158,033 37%
F 847,738 390,662 117%
G 1,936,725 1,159,965 67%
H 899,056 795,370 13%
I 859,017 451,532 90%
J 421,343 352,010 20%
K 503,340 406,609 24%
L 61,446 22,631 172%
M 570,463 230,122 148%
N 762,244 674,433 13%
O 1,269,419 -  
P 1,428,292 44,895 3081%
Q 1,528,658 401,157 281%
R 182,057 71,088 156%
S 383,475 87,675 337%
B_S 15,589,181 7,902,783 97%

*Employees (LFS data): persons working abroad excluded; persons with the second job counted twice

**Only business units with 10 employees or more are surveyed

see Annex 2
8.4 Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics

see above

8.5 Coherence - National Accounts

Not requested.

8.6 Coherence - internal

Not requested.

9. Accessibility and clarity

see below

9.1 Dissemination format - News release

Web addresses:

for press releases:

- in Italian: http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/posti+vacanti

- in English: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/vacancies

9.2 Dissemination format - Publications

Dissemination scheme, including to whom the results are sent

Periodicity of national publication

References for publications of core results, including those with commentary in the form of text, graphs, maps, etc.

Information on what results, if any, are sent to reporting units included in the sample

 Job vacancy rates are disseminated quarterly at the national level as follows:

 -          45 days after the end of the reference quarter: a news page announcing the publication of preliminary estimates in the online datawarehouse I.Stat (http://dati.istat.it)

 -          around 76 days after the end of the reference quarter: a press release and the publication in the   online datawarehouse I.Stat (http://dati.istat.it)

Furthermore, the job vacancy rates figures are transmitted quarterly to Eurostat via Edamis for the 45 and 70 day regulation deadlines.

 Twice each quarter.

Web addresses:

for press releases:

- in Italian: http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/posti+vacanti

- in English: http://www.istat.it/en/archive/vacancies

- for I.Stat: http://dati.istat.it

 None.

9.3 Dissemination format - online database
9.3.1 Data tables - consultations
9.4 Dissemination format - microdata access

None

9.5 Dissemination format - other

Not requested.

9.6 Documentation on methodology

Not requested.

9.7 Quality management - documentation

Description of and references for metadata provided

References for core methodological documents relating to the statistics provided

Description of main actions carried out by the national statistical services to inform users about the data

Remarks

Metadata in the “Nota metodologica” disseminated together with the national press releases provide information on:

 - definitions and concepts;

 - main characteristics of the survey;

 - editing, imputation and calibration methods;

 - revisions;

 - seasonal adjustment methods.

 See: http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/162498

 

In-depth descriptions of the error prevention, data integration and editing and imputation methods applied in the quarterly survey on job vacancies and hours worked can be found in:

-           Baldi, C., Bellisai, D., Fivizzani, S. and M. Sorrentino, “Prevenzione degli errori, integrazione dei dati e metodi statistici nel processo di controllo e correzione dell'Indagine trimestrale sui posti vacanti e le ore lavorate”, Istat, Contributi, n. 13/2008, Rome, 2008 (http://www3.istat.it/dati/pubbsci/contributi/Contributi/contr_2008/13_2008.pdf)

-          Bellisai, D., Fivizzani, S. and M. Sorrentino, “A Business Survey on Job Vacancies: Integration with Other Sources and Calibration”, in Davino, C. and L. Fabbris (eds.), Survey Data Collection and Integration, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2012

-          Baldi, C., Bellisai, D., Fivizzani, S., Lucarelli A. and M. Sorrentino, “L’indagine trimestrale sui posti vacanti e le ore lavorate ed il passaggio alla classificazione Ateco 2007”, chapter 5 in Istat, “Il sistema degli indicatori congiunturali sulla domanda di lavoro e le retribuzioni in base 2005 e Ateco 2007”, Rome, Metodi e norme, 2013 (http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/97314)

Bellisai, D., Binci, S., Gigante, S., Libratore, A., Serbassi, L. and M. Sorrentino, “Verso la modernizzazione della produzione delle statistiche congiunturali sull’input di lavoro: il processo di integrazione tra la rilevazione mensile sulle grandi imprese e quella trimestrale sui posti vacanti e le ore lavorate”, Istat, Working Papers, n.11, 2013 (http://www.istat.it/it/files/2013/12/IWP_11_2013.pdf)

 - the calendar of all the press releases of the year is published on the Istat Web Site (http://www.istat.it/it/informazioni/per-i-giornalisti/calendario-comunicati);

- an agenda of the press releases of the month is in evidence on the home page of the Istat Web Site (http://www.istat.it);

- a tweet is posted at the time of each press release by @istat_it and @istat_en.

 

9.7.1 Metadata completeness - rate

Not requested.

9.7.2 Metadata - consultations

Not requested.

10. Cost and Burden

Not requested.

11. Confidentiality

see 11.2

11.1 Confidentiality - policy

see 11.2

11.2 Confidentiality - data treatment

Disclosure rules: Brief description of when data have to be deleted for reasons of confidentiality

Italian figures on the number of job vacancies and occupied posts are confidential for all study domains. This is so far Istat dissemination policy.

Furthermore, the job vacancy rate figures are confidential until their first national release (for the preliminary estimates  on the B to S aggregate, at 45 days after the end of the reference quarter; for the data by Nace sections, currently around 76 days after the end of the reference quarter). However, the data for Nace Rev. 2 section L remain confidential also after this date, due to the small size of the section.

Finally, once a year, when the data for the first quarter are disseminated, the figures for the previous two years are revised. Hence, also these revised figures are confidential until their first national release (which coincides with that of the data for the first quarter).

12. Comment

Special remarks