As anyone with two functioning brain cells surely knew already, the “official” unemployment figure — just like the “official” CPI inflation figure — is a farce.
No. Scrap that.
A deliberate deception.
From the Daily Telegraph:
REAL unemployment is double the official figure – with 13 per cent of Australia’s workforce wanting a job or longer hours.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released a new analysis that combines the official unemployment rate with “discouraged” jobseekers, the “underemployed” and those who want to start work within a month, but cannot begin immediately.
The 13.1 per cent rate of “extended labour force under-utilisation” in August 2012 was more than double the official unemployment rate at the time of 5 per cent.
The ABS counts people as employed even if they only work an hour a week.
But the new measure also counts underemployment – workers in part-time or casual positions who want a permanent job or longer hours.
And it includes those “discouraged” jobseekers who want to work but have given up looking because employers consider them to be too old or too young, if they are ill or disabled, lack the necessary training or experience, cannot find a job locally or in their line of work, or cannot speak English well.
The ABS report shows the labour under-utilisation rate fell steadily between 2001 and 2008 but “increased sharply” when the global financial crisis hit in 2009, from 10.6 per cent to 14.3 per cent.
…
The ABS report said the under-utilisation rate gave a “more comprehensive picture” of the state of Australia’s workforce than the pure jobless rate.
The “pure” jobless rate?!?! One (1) hour a week is not “jobless”?? You’re kidding, right?!
More at the link.
This revelation is so patently obvious, that my only response is a question.
Any particular reason why you have chosen to admit this now?
Barnaby Is Right 
Good one Blissful. I don’t know where you get your information from but perhaps you can tell me how to set up my new Sony camera. I mean who else am I going to ask?
LOL … got a manual mate?
And by the way I agree. One hour a week is not employment in the true sense and what we have is a shell game at best. Perhaps a better measure is looking at official unemployment as you can’t fudge those receiving benefits, or maybe you can??!!!
If you look around there are plenty of jobs that need doing – problem is there is no money available to pay to get them done. The change of the ratio of money in circulation per head of population in recent years would be interesting.
As explained at the top of my web page, world leaders have promoted misinformation as scientific facts for sixty-eight years (2013 – 1945 = 68 yrs) to save themselves from nuclear annihilation by
1. Forming the UN on 24 Oct 1945
2. Eliminating national boundaries and national constitutions
3. Giving research grants and Nobel Prizes to those who help obscure the source of energy that vaporized Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 & 9 Aug 1945.
May we have the wisdom to avoid retaliation and punishment for this well-intended deception.
With deep regrets,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA Principal
Investigator for Apollo
BI,
Good question.
“Any particular reason why you have chosen to admit this now?”
and in Washington DC,
“but the other thing that was very interesting is he (the Bernank) said the unemployment number is probably much worse than what the official number suggests. This was an incredible statement to come out of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.” (King World News interview with James Turk, 11/5/13)
Either TPTB are having a serious case of “honesty” or we are being set up for more QE, money printing and savage “austerity”…… to stimulate the economy & jobs growth, of course.
Just saying….
Or sowing the rhetorical seeds for another
“markets”casino collapse, a la 2008 … ?Add another10% for those feather bedded in useless public circus and maybe get the real figure of useful employment which subtracted from100 will give the real unemployment figure. ” Poor fellow my country ” Died by it’s own hand.