The Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/news/9902/25/text/pageone8.html Million more jobless revealed Date: 25/02/99 By TOM ALLARD The true state of Australia's jobs market was exposed yesterday with the release of figures showing 1.7 million want work but can't find it - almosta million more than the numbers officially recognised as unemployed. Counting these hidden unemployed as part of the labour force produces a "real" jobless rate of 16.3 per cent at September 1998, when the figures were compiled. That is more than double the official unemployment rate at the time of 8.1 per cent. Despite a 5 per cent fall in the number of "official" unemployed over the past two years, the number of hidden unemployed - those who want a job but don't fit the narrow criteria to be registered as unemployed - has risen by 5 per cent to 922,600. That is the highest recorded level of hidden unemployed since the survey began in 1975 and higher than the 740,000 people judged to be unemployed in September last year in the widely used labour force figures. The most recent figures show the unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in January, and the Federal Government has flagged an ambitious reform agenda to cut the figure to 5 per cent or lower. The rise in hidden unemployment puzzled economists as it traditionally falls in line with the official unemployment rate and has done so for most of the past decade. But they agreed that the rising number of hidden unemployed highlighted the huge challenge facing the Government in substantially reducing Australia's chronic unemployment. The director of Access Economics, Mr Chris Richardson, said: "What's happening is unusual but now that both sides of the unemployment equation are on the table, it's a gentle reminder that it's going to be bloody hard to make a big dent in unemployment. "It's not just a matter of simply reducing the unemployment rate of 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent. To get down to that 5 per cent figure you have to get jobs for a large chunk of the marginally attached as well." That is because many of these people can be expected to look harder for jobs when the market picks up. Those "marginally attached" to the labour force, also dubbed the hidden unemployed, are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as people who "want to work" but are not able to do so in the next four weeks. Alternatively, they may be unable to look for work but would start a job within four weeks if it was offered to them. A person is deemed as officially unemployed only if they have been both seeking a job and can start work within four weeks. The Bureau of Statistics annual survey of "persons not in the labour force" showed more than two-thirds of the hidden unemployed were women, with most citing family and personal reasons such as child care as restricting their ability to find work. There were 110,900 "discouraged jobseekers", or people who want work and can start work but have given up trying. But a labour market economist at the Australian National University, Professor Bob Gregory, said the high level of hidden unemployed reflected a complex set of developments and "may not be as bad as it seems". For instance, he said, the rise in the popularity of part-time work meant more students and dependent spouses considered taking on a part-time job than before. More than half of the hidden unemployed, 551,300, were looking for part-time work. This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
