| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:30 am Post subject: |
 |
|
I didn't realize that.
Equally interesting is that Canada now has a lower aggregate tax burden than the United States. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
I lost faith in stats a long time ago...
How do they count 'unemployed'... a lot of these stats are just high spun parlor tricks to make things look better than they are.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
Doesn't america drop people from the "unemployed" rolls after 2 years? There was something about that in "Downsize this" by Michael Moore.
Meaning, the unemployed numbers are probably higher than America lets on.
Also, count the millions in prison, the numbers would be higher. Those guys might have trouble finding jobs if they were out on the streets. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
Every country counts unemployment differently. There is no standard measure. In Canada, for example, if a person claims to be "thinking of going back to school" he/she then is taken off the unemployment data. Equally, if a person says he has given up looking for work, he is removed from the unemployment data.
It is a very inexact science. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Paddycakes wrote: |
I lost faith in stats a long time ago...
How do they count 'unemployed'... a lot of these stats are just high spun parlor tricks to make things look better than they are.... |
You're confusing an absolute measure with a relative measure. I'm assuming a) Canada and the USA count it roughly the same way (number of people looking for work/drawing UI benefits) b) the metric hasn't changed over a reasonable period of time.
Your gas gauge, for example, is not a fully accurate measure of how much gas you have. However, when it's approaching E you know that's a bad thing.
If we say the unemployment rate is 3% we can make certain assumptions about how easy it is for people to get jobs. If the rate is 10% we can make other assumptions. It doesn't matter ultimately if 10% really means 10% of Americans/Canadians are unemployed. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| So if they count someone as unemployed as someone who is collecting Employement insurance benifits what about the people on welfare. What about single mothers who have no real incentive to take that walmart job. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Fishead soup wrote: |
| So if they count someone as unemployed as someone who is collecting Employement insurance benifits what about the people on welfare. What about single mothers who have no real incentive to take that walmart job. |
Your questions (I'm assuming they're questions although ended in periods) seem to be non sequiturs. I'm merely stating as a relative (though no doubt inaccurate) measure the unemployment index is still a broad gauge of the economy. If you're in Newfoundland, knowing the national average is 6.1 might not mean a lot to you when the local rate is 11%. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Fishead soup wrote: |
| So if they count someone as unemployed as someone who is collecting Employement insurance benifits what about the people on welfare. What about single mothers who have no real incentive to take that walmart job. |
Collecting EI is not counted as unemployed for the first 3 or 6 months. Can't remember exactly.
Welfare cases are unemployed if they are looking for work if they are raising kids etc they are not.
But, this is methodology from a few years back. The Canadian government, like every other government on earth, will change the criteria of what is and isn't technical unemployment from year to year to make the stats look favorable. But as MM2 noted, even with doctoring they are useful measures. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
