Job figures
Sep. 24th, 2004 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsidheThe Gubbmint has just released figures which show that the number of people on the Dole is at a 14 year low. (That is, since 1990. That is, since the start of the most recent recession depression.)
This leaves some questions, however, such as:
Ooh, ooh, how about measuring the ratio of median wage to mean? Or median wage to highest wage? (I'll be fair, I'll take the highest wage as from tax records, as opposed to gross income). Or wage changes to corporate profit changes?
Anyone?
Of course, before anyone starts bleating about how this is showing a left wing bias, I fully expect the figures to show that the decline in living standards and real wages started in force during the reign of Keating, so a plague on both their houses.
This leaves some questions, however, such as:
- How is the Participation rate going? (That is, how many people have dropped off the roles because they've stopped looking for work?)
- How many of the quoted 1.3 million created jobs are casual, temporary, or otherwise unsecure?
- What has happened to the average wage? What about if you take the median? (We can probably safely ignore the modal wage.) Compared to inflation? Cost of living index?
Ooh, ooh, how about measuring the ratio of median wage to mean? Or median wage to highest wage? (I'll be fair, I'll take the highest wage as from tax records, as opposed to gross income). Or wage changes to corporate profit changes?
Anyone?
Of course, before anyone starts bleating about how this is showing a left wing bias, I fully expect the figures to show that the decline in living standards and real wages started in force during the reign of Keating, so a plague on both their houses.
