Employment in national accounts

Labour is at the heart of production, forming a primary input alongside capital and intermediate consumption. The System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) does not provide employment indicators directly but references them as an important adjunct to the accounts (UN, 2009, paragraph 2.156-2.158), and linkages to productivity are set out in Chapter 19 in the 2008 SNA. Chapter 19 also provides definitions of employees and self-employed persons – the two categories of labour input in the national accounts – residency and production conventions and describes standardized labour measures. Furthermore, it underlines that for productivity measures, the preference is to estimate total hours actually worked, thus, consistency between e.g., employment, full time equivalent (FTE) and hours worked is needed. In alignment with the 2008 SNA, the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) also discusses employment in Chapter 11 (Eurostat, 2013).

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities