Economic growth not producing jobs

"While it is good to see there was growth in the economy in the last three months of 2012, we have to ask: where are the jobs?" says Bill Rosenberg, CTU Economist.

"Growth is still patchy, and one quarter of strong 1.5 percent growth does not make a booming economy, but at the same time we have 6.9 percent unemployment, 163,000 people unemployed and 284,000 jobless with many people discouraged from finding work and 111,000 wanting more work."

"The growth in the economy also implies increasing labour productivity, which should lead to higher wages if wage bargaining was working properly, but we are seeing very low wage growth", Rosenberg added. "Many working people are not seeing the growth in GDP flowing through into their pockets in jobs or incomes."

"Worries about manufacturing will continue after these results. While most of the economy showed growth in the three months to December, manufacturing was the exception with a fall of 0.5 percent in the quarter, though it rose 1.3 percent for the year. However this was dependent on the continuing rise in food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing. Other manufacturing fell approximately 1.4 percent in the quarter and also fell over the whole year. The economy is becoming more dependent on agriculture rather than diversifying."

"This reinforces the need for the need for more active government involvement to ensure good jobs are created. It is not just happening by itself, and the government needs to do more," said Rosenberg.

ENDS

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