The Slick Swiss

[Annie]

Sometimes I find the most interesting things when I'm just reading around. I wonder how the Netherlands arrives at their numbers?:

http://www.johannorberg.net/?page=displayblog&month=11&year=2005#1387

Tomorrow I am leaving for India, and after that I am going to China, to lecture for institutes and universities and to promote translations of my book. For two weeks I will be out of touch, and I won´t blog as much as usual. But I´ll leave you with something to think about during that time:

How large is Sweden´s unemployment? Mats, an economist and a friend of mine just showed me the truth behind the statistics from SCB, Swedish Statistics.

The official rate is 5.4 percent (242 000 people). Not too bad, and closer to economies like US, UK, Ireland and Australia than to continental Europe. But something is strange. Sweden has decided to measure unemployment differently from other countries. For example those who are looking for a job, but who are studying meanwhile, are not included in the workforce or the unemployment. Contrary to ILO´s recommendations, and unlike almost all other countries. That´s another 87 000 people.

Furthermore, there are more than 121 000 persons who are unemployed, and are therefore in special, tax-funded projects, which will - the theory is - increase their ability to get a job later on. They are not counted as unemployed in the statistics. Isn´t that a bit too convenient?
Here are the real numbers of unemployed in October 2005:

Unemployed, officially: 254 000
Unemployed, studying: 87 000
Unemployed, in projects: 130 000

TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 471 000

As a percentage of a workforce of 4 579 000 (in which I now include the 87 000 studying, but job-searching), that gives us a rate of 10.3%.

10.3% unemployed - that´s the number you should use every time you compare the Swedish unemployment rate with other countries. And that´s much closer to France (9.8%) and Germany (11,6%), than to the Anglo-Saxon economies. Anyone who uses the 5.4%-rate is helping the government to hide the real facts, whether they know it or not.

(Furthermore, we would double that rate if we include (pdf, p. 61) the 10% on disability pension, and more than 2% on long-term sick-leave. But other countries also hide those people from the statistics, so that´s not the point here.)

 

[nosarcasm]

I always wondered how the numbers in the US and Germany
for example would compare when you use true numbers, because
I assume in all countries politicans try to cook the book.

 

[manu1959]

you mean swedes not swiss

 

[Annie]

you mean swedes not swiss

Swiss sounds better, like chocolate! :clap1:

 

[USViking]

Sometimes I find the most interesting things when I'm just reading around. I wonder how the Netherlands arrives at their numbers?:

http://www.johannorberg.net/?page=displayblog&month=11&year=2005#1387

Good link- I posted it on another board where someone
was ranting and raving over how wonderful the Swedish
economy was doing.

 

[padisha emperor]

Sweden sounds like blonde beauty and nice polar sunsets. (and ABBA )
Pretty good too...