Methodology 

The Active population survey (EPA) is the main source of statistical information on the employment market and its main objective is to provide information on the magnitudes of the population in relation to economic activity. The EPA compiles information on the establishments where the employe population works and where unemployed people have worked previously. These variables are codified according to the corresponding official statistical classifications for each period.

The Catalan classification of economic activities 2009 (CCAE-2009), produced by Idescat, is a statistical instrument for the classification of areas of economic activity that was adapted to European and State standards for the classification of economic activities, such as the NACE-Rev.2 and CNAE-2009, respectively. This classification came into force on January 1, 2009, (Decree 137/2008 of July 8) and is of compulsory application to official Catalan statistics. In order to adapt to the new Catalan classification of economic activities 2009 (CCAE-2009) in first quarter of 2008 the EPA started using a dual classification of the activity variables using the classification in force until then (CCAE-93) and the new Classification (CCAE-2009). One of the objectives of this procedure was to obtain retrospective series of the most important population variables, thus enabling comparative analysis from the period when the new classification came into force onwards.

The retrospective series for the employed population in accordance with the CCAE-2009 for the 2000–2007 period were calculated on the basis of the dual codification matrix involving the CCAE-93 and the CCAE-2009. The coefficients for this matrix were determined by disaggregating the two classifications into two digits (CCAE-93 and CCAE-2009) of the annual average for the employed population in the year 2008. The estimations for the different activity groups published (sectors and branches) were made by aggregating the corresponding codes to two digits.

The official results of this survey are those that were codified for each period in accordance with the valid CCAE of the time, i.e. the CCAE-93 for the 1993–2008 period and the CCAE-2009 from 2009.

The results for the employed population for the 2000–2007 period using the CCAE-2009 are published broken down into two different levels: by activity sector and by activity branch.