no improvement in greek land, page-26

From a Greek perspective - Australia is the land of boom. According to the 'Wall Street Journal, quote:

"Facing an uncertain economic future at home, more Greeks are making the 20-hour trip to Australia in search of work.

Short-term arrivals of Greek citizens are up 21% to about 4,000 people in the six months ended Nov. 30, compared with the period two years ago, according to Australia's statistics bureau. The latest number marks the biggest half-year inflow in that period in a decade.

Unlike Greece, with its 17% unemployment rate, Australia's economy is thriving. A mining boom fueled by demand from China has led to a shortage of skilled workers and a 5% jobless rate.

The Australian government is easing work-permit requirements to attract about 125,000 skilled immigrants over the next year to fill gaps in the current work force. Even truck drivers in Western Australia's remote mines are earning annual salaries of US$200,000."

Between June 30 and Nov. 30, long-term visa holders from the U.K. jumped 43% to 7,160. Those from Ireland surged 68% over the period to 2,610.



Given the real unemployment situation in Australia, Greek migrants (and others) may be disappointed with the harsh reality. So what is the employment situation in Australia? The answer depends where you look. Quote from CRISPIN HULL:

Jerome K. Jerome wrote in 1889: "I love work. It fascinates me. I could sit and watch it for hours." Pollster Gary Morgan could have said the same thing. He has been watching work for decades. Every month he publishes the results of his polling about unemployment in Australia and invariably he comes up with a result quite different from that of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Figures he published this week followed the pattern. Morgan's unemployment figure (8.6per cent) remained much higher than the ABS's figure of 5.3per cent.

How can this be? Is Morgan wrong? After all, the ABS is notoriously reliable and diligent.

Well, they are both right. And the reason is that they have different definitions of unemployment.

The ABS takes its definition from the International Labour Organisation, which defines unemployment as completely without work. So if someone has done just one hour of paid work in the past week they are deemed to be ''employed'' or at least not ''unemployed''.

Morgan, on the other hand, asks in face-to-face interviews whether the person has a job or is self-employed. He asks further whether the person would like more work.

His latest result is alarming. When you add the nearly one million Australians looking for more work to the more than one million without a job, it means that more than two million Australians are either looking for a job or looking for more work - 16.8per cent of the workforce. It is the first time the figure has hit two million since Morgan began watching work.

Overall, 1,034,000 are looking for work and 978,000 are looking for more work.



Sorces:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/workers-go-begging-as-unemployment-numbers-dont-add-up/2419841.aspx?storypage=0

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203899504577127821001713042.html