Posts by Darren Morgan

How the ONS creates a full picture of changes in the labour market

Categories: ONS
Picture of workers

The data gathered by large economic surveys remain a vital component of many key Office for National Statistics figures, especially those on the labour market. Maintaining good survey response rates is a challenge faced by national statistical institutes worldwide. In this post Darren Morgan sets out how the ONS is addressing this issue and tapping alternative sources for the important information we need.

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Uncertainty and the ‘r’ word: What exactly is a ‘recession’?

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS
Image of graphs and money, indicating financial markets

In times when the economy appears to be slowing, commentators will inevitably debate whether or not it is moving into ‘recession’. There is, however, no official definition of a recession and the one most commonly used has the potential to be misleading. In this post Darren Morgan reveals why in official statistics the ONS tends to avoid using the ‘r’ word.    

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Making everybody count: How we’re transforming the Labour Force Survey

Categories: ONS
Picture of workers

The Labour Force Survey has for many years been the cornerstone of ONS statistics on UK employment. While now complemented by other, often faster sources of information like real-time PAYE data, it remains the richest source of data on many aspects of the world of work and wider society. Darren Morgan discusses the challenges this survey faced during the pandemic and how we now plan to transform it. 

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