Thursday, August 12, 2010

Unemployment is bad whatever way you look at it

One argument says that this recession has been particularly bad for young people as their rate of unemployment increases. Another argument says the recession has been a nightmare for older people since once they are unemployed they cannot get a job. Of course both arguments are correct as is illustrated by the graphs.

Yesterday the ONS reported the data about long-term unemployment. My chums at PRIME have written an excellent summary of what the numbers mean. The bottom line is that:
There are now 3,605,000 people, men and women, aged 50-to-64 who are workless. That is over 32 per cent, or fractionally below one in three.
I just wish the media would not get into the idiotic game of linking the employment prospects of people at both ends of the age range as if when one age benefits the other must suffer.

Sorry to take a hard-headed attitude to these numbers but from the point of view of marketers you have to decide what parts of your customer base are going to be the least affected by the recession.

A good starting place is to get a firm grip on the actual numbers. These graphs only represent the first level of analysis since the term 'unemployment' has many meanings. Still, getting to the first base is not a bad idea. Dick Stroud

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