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HALFPENNY LANE
Terry Lane, on permanent loan to Melbourne’s Age from the museum of communism, is depressed:
As the voices of dissent falter under the weight of the free market, power is shifting further away from the working class.
Out here on the pseudo-neo-ersatz-Marxist-extreme left the mood is gloomy. We know that news of factory closures and the export of jobs to Asia should cheer us up because Karl predicted it would happen ...
There is now no voice of dissent in the political realm - unless you count the valiant Greens - arguing for a different way of living. Less competitive and more co-operative. Less greedy and more concerned about the welfare of sacked windscreen-wiper makers and fly-screen weavers and seatbelt assemblers.
If Terry is genuinely concerned about the workers’ welfare, he should be rejoicing. Take a look at these numbers, Mr Gloomy:
A record 61.2per cent of the working-age population now hold a job, with the latest unemployment figures showing the rate still at a 29-year low ... The labour force participation rate—those either in work or looking for a job—has also reached a record 64.6 per cent.
Who knows where Lane’s apocalyptic unemployment notions came from. Perhaps he thinks we’re still ruled by Gough Whitlam.
Hmmm, it should read like this:
‘As the voices of foolishness falter under the weight of the free market, power is shifting further away from the chattering classes.
Out here in the pseudo-neo-ersatz-Marxist-extreme left the mood is gloomy. We know that news of drama workshops closing and the export of Bob Brown to Asia should wake us up, just as Karl Rove predicted would happen ...
There is now no voice of dissent in the political realm - unless you count the valiant Greens - arguing for a return to pre- aboriginal times, a ban on circumcision and free herbal tea each wednesday. Less Government hand-outs and more working. Less Fairfax journalists and more concern about the welfare of those who attend schools, those who work in Hospitals, those who actually aid society.
Yes R_W_F, we do know how many are part time and casual.
The headline unemployment rate and total employment growth figures are only two of the most economically meaningful indicators coming out of the ABS Labour Force Survey. Levels of full time and part time employmnet and the level of “under-employment” - that is, part time workers who want and are available for additional hours - are also measured by ABS.
Both full time and part time employment have been growing strongly in recent times. There has been a slight increase in the proportion of part time employment, mainly due to the increasing participation of women and older age workers.
But here is the tellng figure - there have been no significant increases in the rate of underemployment associated with the recent growth of part time work. That is, the vast majority of part time employed people are happy with the hours they are working.
TFK
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The export of jobs to the local supermarket is another worry. I now buy salads pre-cut in salad-preserving-gas-filled bags, having lost my lettuce washing and carrot cutting kitchen meal job to them. Where will it end?
Now I just hang around the kitchen hoping some scrap of former gainful employment comes my way.