The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Number of job seekers on dole falls in March and April (chart)

The April dole data were released today. In raw, non seasonally-adjusted terms the number of short- and long-term job-seeking workers that receive unemployment benefits fell in both March and April. However, these data are highly seasonal and, as my friend Ricardian Ambivalence argues here, "History suggests that the ABS unemployment rate leads the DE[E]WR benefit recipient rate." This is interesting in the context of the recent divergence in the two measures, which UBS has recently highlighted.


at 6:51 PM