I'm not a politically motivated person, but........

[cava]

Probably because, like a lot of people, you prefer to believe the doom and gloom media headlines?

Actually, and your mileage may vary, but in my case it is life experience and this is especially true of being wary of UN publications.

[Master Splinter]

I must say that I always find random YouTube commentators much more accurate and insightful than the statistical reports of all the member countries of the UN, in much the same way that I find the cures offered by homoeopaths so much better than those provided by modern medicine. Some countries are known for reporting more their 'optimistic' or 'we think it should be this' figures rather than more realistic ones, but they tend to be the countries where accuracy takes a back seat to 'not being shot by the government'.

The point was made earlier that the Australian definition of 'employed' means you had more than one hour's work. Interestingly, that's been the International Labour Organisation's definition of 'employed' (for the purpose of 'unemployment figures') for the last 45-plus years across all UN member countries, so we're not the only ones using it.

The main use of the main unemployment number is for international comparisons and a quick headline overview. If you think it's useful for anything but that, you haven't spent days going through all the data that is actually available.

If you want more detail (as in how many hours are worked, or if people want and are able to work more hours, and what stops them getting jobs, and yes, even how many people work less than ten hours per week) there's literally hundreds of detailed spreadsheets about aspects of the labour force at the ABS' site.

[AlexS]

If you want more detail (as in how many hours are worked, or if people want and are able to work more hours, and what stops them getting jobs, and yes, even how many people work less than ten hours per week) there's literally hundreds of detailed spreadsheets about aspects of the labour force at the ABS' site.

But that would mean using actual data to form an opinion.