Truth in Statistics

As I have said many times, the stats on benefit numbers are easily manipulated by having people hived off into pointless training schemes, on other benefits etc etc. This is why the HLFS is the official record of unemployment levels.

We see this by Rick Barker’s claim that no-one in Flaxmere is on the unemployment benefit. Now it defies belief that no one in Flaxmere is unemployed – it just means they are not recorded as receiving the dole..

As the Dom Post points out, there are 20 people just appearing in Court who are from Flaxmere and unemployed. A local resident jokes half the neighbourhood is unemployed, including three members of her family.