The localised unemployment rate estimation method is based on an estimate of, firstly, the unemployment (numerator) and, secondly, the employment (a part of the denominator), by employment area and department.

The numerator is obtained each quarter by breaking down national figures for unemployment using the geographical structure observed in the DEFM.

The employment is computed mainly due to employment estimations.

The localised unemployment rate is finally calculated by comparing the number of unemployed persons to the labour force (sum of the number of unemployed persons and occupied active persons) estimated in this manner.