About LMIS

The identification of labour market issues critically rests on the availability of data, information and analysis. Labour market information systems (LMIS) provide an essential basis for employment and labour policies, and inform the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that are better focused and targeted. LMIS also contribute to a reduction in the transaction costs of labour markets as they help overcome incomplete information of labour market agents. Most countries are committed to the development of labour market information systems. However, particularly in developing economies, the functioning of LMIS, if such systems have been established at all, is hampered by various constraints, including data limitations. Data limitations affect not only complex issues such as informality and employment protection, but also labour market indicators that in most developed economies are available on a monthly or quarterly basis, such as employment and unemployment indicators. Data limitations are related in developing economies to constraints such as resource scarcity, limited analytical capacity and structural factors. Furthermore, labour market institutions, including workers’ and employers’ organizations, are weak in many economies, which hampers the development and use of mechanisms to feed information and analysis into decision-making. Such problems may lead to ill-informed policy formulation and inadequate monitoring, hindering efforts to achieve labour market and development objectives.