Post by Banjo on Jul 12, 2013 5:31:07 GMT 7
Does the unemployment rate tell us the whole story?
The 5.7% unemployment rate announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is not the only figure worth looking at
The unemployment rate announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of 5.7% is just one of the many bits of information revealed each month in the Labour Force data. So let’s look under the hood, and find some of the things that don’t usually make it to the headlines.
Employment and population growth
What employment growth and population growth data tell us: if the first is keeping up with the second.
Why is this important? Pretty obvious really, but looking at this measure gives a bit more clarity than just hearing how many jobs were created in a month. By itself that figure doesn’t tell us much – what is important is the growth of jobs relative to population growth.
Over the past 20 years the civilian adult population has grown by about 1.6% per year. So if employment isn’t growing by about that amount a year the unemployment rate is going to be going up. That works out at about 15,000 new jobs needed a month just to keep steady.
What’s happening? In June the number of new jobs – 10,300 – was just a smidge under population growth, but in annual growth terms, employment hasn't kept up for nearly 2 years now.
Full-time unemployment rate
What the full-time jobless rate tells us: how tight the labour market is.
Why is this important? Jobs are great, but full-time jobs are a major driver of the economy. While part-time work has become more important, if full-time jobs aren’t growing, that’s a pretty good sign that things are weak.
The full-time unemployment rate is the percentage of those looking for full-time work out of the full-time labour force. By itself it is not much more interesting than the total unemployment rate, but when we compare the two it gives us a pretty clear picture of whether there are enough full-time jobs going around. If the unemployment rate of people looking for full-time work is higher than the total rate, that’s a sign that the labour market has a lot of spare capacity, and a lot more people looking for full-time work than there are jobs.
www.guardian.co.uk/business/grogonomics/2013/jul/11/unemployment-figures-whole-story
I've only posted part of this large article, it's interesting reading with a number of graphs illustrating the points.
I see Queensland has the highest unemployment rate but finds work for thousands of foreigners on temp visas.
The 5.7% unemployment rate announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is not the only figure worth looking at
The unemployment rate announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of 5.7% is just one of the many bits of information revealed each month in the Labour Force data. So let’s look under the hood, and find some of the things that don’t usually make it to the headlines.
Employment and population growth
What employment growth and population growth data tell us: if the first is keeping up with the second.
Why is this important? Pretty obvious really, but looking at this measure gives a bit more clarity than just hearing how many jobs were created in a month. By itself that figure doesn’t tell us much – what is important is the growth of jobs relative to population growth.
Over the past 20 years the civilian adult population has grown by about 1.6% per year. So if employment isn’t growing by about that amount a year the unemployment rate is going to be going up. That works out at about 15,000 new jobs needed a month just to keep steady.
What’s happening? In June the number of new jobs – 10,300 – was just a smidge under population growth, but in annual growth terms, employment hasn't kept up for nearly 2 years now.
Full-time unemployment rate
What the full-time jobless rate tells us: how tight the labour market is.
Why is this important? Jobs are great, but full-time jobs are a major driver of the economy. While part-time work has become more important, if full-time jobs aren’t growing, that’s a pretty good sign that things are weak.
The full-time unemployment rate is the percentage of those looking for full-time work out of the full-time labour force. By itself it is not much more interesting than the total unemployment rate, but when we compare the two it gives us a pretty clear picture of whether there are enough full-time jobs going around. If the unemployment rate of people looking for full-time work is higher than the total rate, that’s a sign that the labour market has a lot of spare capacity, and a lot more people looking for full-time work than there are jobs.
www.guardian.co.uk/business/grogonomics/2013/jul/11/unemployment-figures-whole-story
I've only posted part of this large article, it's interesting reading with a number of graphs illustrating the points.
I see Queensland has the highest unemployment rate but finds work for thousands of foreigners on temp visas.
