So, the Australian unemployment rate creeps to 5.8 per cent, a rise of 0.1% over last month. While the employment rate goes up by 25K. Love it when economic indicators are completely the opposite of one another - yes, unemployment went up, but apparently only because population went up more than the job creation rate. And also the fact that some people who weren't officially looking for work last month were encouraged to look now.
And what with Australia missing technical recession, our interest rates going up, and the unemployment rate stalling, and the endless talking up of the economy by the commentariat, you would think we were in a recovery, wouldn't you? Though we also saw the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, commenting from the APEC summit in Singapore, saying that there were still challenges in the economy and we needed to keep stimulating.
Umm, more money into the economy by the government, means that the Reserve Bank will just squeeze it out of the private sector with faster rate rises. The only logical reason Swan and Rudd still want the stimulus would be that if the money keeps flowing long enough, it will feed into next year's election. No politician wants to turn off the money tap, or even worse, finally start following through on the tough decisions they keep promising us budget after budget, before an election. I am seeing Swan and his stimulus as either the boy that cried wolf or the boy with the finger in the dyke. Which analogy is more appropriate, hmm...
And what with Australia missing technical recession, our interest rates going up, and the unemployment rate stalling, and the endless talking up of the economy by the commentariat, you would think we were in a recovery, wouldn't you? Though we also saw the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, commenting from the APEC summit in Singapore, saying that there were still challenges in the economy and we needed to keep stimulating.
Umm, more money into the economy by the government, means that the Reserve Bank will just squeeze it out of the private sector with faster rate rises. The only logical reason Swan and Rudd still want the stimulus would be that if the money keeps flowing long enough, it will feed into next year's election. No politician wants to turn off the money tap, or even worse, finally start following through on the tough decisions they keep promising us budget after budget, before an election. I am seeing Swan and his stimulus as either the boy that cried wolf or the boy with the finger in the dyke. Which analogy is more appropriate, hmm...
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