WINDHOEK: Statistician-General John Steytler announced on Thursday that the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) will start conducting labour force surveys as from next month.

The labour force surveys, providing data and information on the employment situation in Namibia, will be conducted over the period from 15 to 26 October this year. About 9 500 households are expected to be surveyed.

Steytler said the statistics’ agency intends to conduct labour force surveys on an annual basis to determine the unemployment rate in the country.

Results of the labour force surveys will be released three months after the completion of the research and data-capturing.

The Namibia Labour Force Survey (NLFS) of 2008, which was released in 2010, indicated that 51.2 per cent of the total Namibian population is unemployed.

This included people who were looking for a full-time job, as well as people who have given up trying to find work.

Figures presented by the 2008 labour force survey were received with much doubt by members of the public, politicians and international academic institutions, who criticised the methodology used to collect the data, as well as the tools employed in the interpretation of such data.