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People are classed as 'in employment' (employee or self-employed) if they have done at least one hour of paid work in the week prior to their LFS interview. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported training and employment programmes are also included, in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

The data used for this indicator is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS). The APS was introduced in January 2004 and it has replaced the Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey. The APS combines results from the Labour Force Survey ( LFS) and the English, Welsh and Scottish Labour Force Survey boosts. The boosts increase the sample size which means the APS can provide more robust labour market estimates for local areas compared to the main LFS. Thus the APS is the primary source for information on local labour markets providing headline estimates on employment, unemployment and economic activity. The APS is the largest annual household survey in Scotland and provides a wealth of information about individuals' personal circumstances and their work. The LFS surveys individuals living at private households in the UK and is designed to be representative of the national population.

The Scottish Government funds the boost to the LFS sample in Scotland, taking the sample size from approximately 8,000 households for the each year to 23,000 households.