Unemployment figures released today for the quarter to December 2010 have been greeted by widespread doom-mongering across the media, with hourly radio bulletins focussing on a despondent picture in areas of Northern Ireland, but the picture is not necessarily clear cut.
The excellent analysis provided by the BBC News Website allows a complete perspective to be placed on the situation:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117
The figure receiving focus is the increase in overall Unemployment, taking the absolute figure past the 2.5 million mark. However the impact of localised factors are widely ignored by reports and the comparison with previous times of economic recession and recovery still rates these figures as comparitively low.
There is wide debate to be had on this topic and we welcome comments, but recommend using the tools on the BBC link above to really understand the situation before taking the soundbyte figures as an accurate overall picture.
Is a full employment economy possible? Let us know your comments.
