Sleight of Hand Economics - National Social/Political

Not a word from economically inept Labor politicians and most surprising of all, almost nothing from ‘doberman attack dog’ opposition leader, Tony Abbott and his band of servile conservative dunces. Oz is in ‘great’ shape with the worst array of politicians in Canberra the nation has ever seen!

At the time I thought no Oz politician could be worse than that despicable, shameless COWARD and Bush arse-licker, John Howard; then along comes Murdoch’s choice Kevin ‘do-nothing’ Rudd to make Howard look good. However, after Rudd’s failure to sell the ETS locally and internationally he was jettisoned in favour of duplicitous and treasonous, Juliar Gillard, the most incompetent politician in Oz history, she makes ‘grovelling’ Howard and ‘custard-faced’ Rudd look like political geniuses.

Well, FIVE full scale (nuclear ready) US military bases and a Goldman Sachs Carbon Tax later, Oz is experiencing an economic ‘downturn,’ though Transnational Corporations continue to extract our finite resources like there’s no tomorrow and make hundreds of billions ($) in profits in the process – so wherefore the recession, oops, I mean ‘downturn?’

Before proceeding some ‘minor’ clarifications need to be made; the first relates to the Corporate and Banker elite that shower themselves in bonuses and millions in salaries, options and other perks – do you think they are experiencing a downturn or any economic hardship? Indeed the recession only applies to average Aussie morons that have yet to realise they have been anally defiled good and improper.

Now bear in mind that the Labor Treasurer has just delivered his budget and that Transnational Corporations continue to extract billions of dollars of the nation’s wealth (at speed) without returning those benefits to the people. The budget the Treasurer delivered has been aptly named the “horror budget,” as it is reminiscent of basket case European austerity programs rather than our highly profitable (for Corporatists) hole-in-the-ground resource based economy!

So we have a European austerity budget and a recession running together but mum’s the word, don’t let the mindless Aussie masses know they are getting fucked up the arse, whatever you do! So, recent news of a computer glitch that fudged employment figures in favour of the Federal Labor government, came as no surprise:

With a track record of fudging figures of unemployment can we trust the Gillard government to supply accurate figures to the Wall St, Journal? Take it with a grain, Gillard is a KNOWN corporate serving traitorous bitch and a known INEPT politician. And remember economic austerity and hardship are only for the masses, not the Banker and Corporatist elites Gillard unswervingly serves.

Report from the Wall Street Journal follows:

Australia's Unemployment Rate Falls To 4.9%
by James Glynn

SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Australia's jobless rate unexpectedly fell in April with gains in the country's biggest mining states signalling that the emergence of a two-speed economy remains a significant risk for overall growth in the resource-rich nation, figures released on Thursday showed.

Unemployment fell to 4.9%, from 5.2% in the previous month, as the economy added a bigger-than-expected 15,500 jobs in April, said the Australian Bureau of Statistics, or ABS. The number of people seeking work in Western Australia, which accounts for the bulk of the country's iron ore output, fell to 3.8% of the total workforce, from 4.1% in March, its lowest level since the beginning of 2009. This compared with a slight rise in unemployment in the most populous state of New South Wales, the data showed.

The figures are positive news for the government, which is forecasting for unemployment to rise to an average of about 5.5% over the next two years. The fall in unemployment will add to the problem facing the Reserve Bank of Australia, or RBA, as it gauges whether signs of a softening economy outside resources industries and slower inflation, justify further cuts in interest rates. The RBA cut rates by 50 basis points to 3.75% last week partly due to concerns that growth in Australia was slowing.

"No one is trying to sell some kind of blue sky scenario," said Bill Shorten, Minister for Employment at a press conference immediately after the jobs data was released. "Plenty of people are still expecting unemployment to rise. People will be surprised by an unemployment rate with a four in front of it."

Although more Australians are in work, full-time employment fell 10,500 in April, with a 26,000 increase in part-time workers making the bulk of gains, the ABS data showed. Economists, who mostly expected 5,000 fewer people in work through April, said that a drop in participation could signal more job seekers staying on the sidelines of the labor market.

"Continued increases in hours worked and jobs gains concentrated in part-time suggest that businesses are not ready to hire and prefer to squeeze more out of current workers," said Martin Whetton, a strategist for Nomura.

For Treasurer Wayne Swan, the data has cast a glow over his budget for 2012-13 announced late Tuesday. Swan unveiled the biggest package of budget cuts in 30 years hoping to turn a deficit of A$44.4 billion Australian dollar (US$44.7 billion) in the 2011-12 fiscal year ending June 30, into a surplus of A$1.5 billion in fiscal 2012-13.

"This is a strong sign that Australia's economy is still in good shape," wrote Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist for Australia at HSBC, in a note to investors. "Combine this with a recent pick up in Q1 retail sales and steadying housing approvals and the economy also looks set for some rebalancing of growth. We remain of the view that the RBA is on hold for the rest of this year."

The Australian dollar rose on the data, rising above US$1.0100 from US$1.0050 before the report.

© 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc

Topics

Other Press

Cleaves on Disc/Stick