The Abbott government's renewed focus on "jobs and growth" has brought with it a jumble of facts and figures.
Desperate to reset the agenda after weeks of unwanted distractions, the government must have been punching the air when the July jobs figures showed an unexpectedly large 38,500 increase.
Gone was the usual caution that the figures "bounce around" from month to month.
Unsurprisingly, the government did not draw attention to the jobless rate returning to a 12-year high of 6.3 per cent or the number of people unemployed breaching 800,000 for the first time in 20 years.
On both, the response was "there is much more work to be done".
That didn't stop the government reeling off a series of figures to show they are really making every effort to increase jobs, although not always in the right context.
Treasurer Joe Hockey repeatedly boasts that Australia is enjoying a faster rate of jobs growth than the major economies of the G7 and most of the G20.
"We have a great record of success in creating 334,000 new jobs in less than two years," he told parliament at least once this week.
"Do not forget - under Labor, 200,000 jobs were lost in just six years."
Both figures are sort of correct, but refer to different gauges.
Since the government came to power in September 2013, 335,800 jobs have been created, but between November 2007 and August 2013, employment increased by 900,500 under Labor.
The 200,000 Hockey refers to - or 209,500, to be precise - is the increase in the number of people unemployed during the six years of Labor government.
That compares with the 114,200 increase in unemployment under the coalition in the past 22 months, over half the size of Labor's rise.
And of course, the jobless rate of 6.3 per cent is higher than the 5.8 per cent when Labor left office, even if the government has trouble saying it.
However, the government correctly points out that the participation rate of those seeking employment has increased, which put pressure on the jobless rate in July - you only become officially unemployed when you are actively chasing jobs.
It's a sign that people are more confident in pursuing work.
That rate stands at 65.1 per cent, the highest since - you've guessed it - Labor was in power in July 2013.
Then there's economic growth.
Hockey has been clinging to the 0.9 per cent growth seen in the first three months of 2015.
Again, it made Australia one of the fastest-growing developed economies, he says.
But again, it ignores the fact that annual growth was still an anaemic 2.3 per cent and probably why the number of unemployed is increasing.
Furthermore, that was how the economy was travelling six months ago.
Since then, the Reserve Bank has questioned Australia's assumed long-term growth average of three to 3.25 per cent and trimmed its GDP forecasts.
Former prime minister John Howard, in an interview this week, felt that Australia was entering a period of "sub-par" economic growth.
And if you believe the Westpac-Melbourne Institute's leading index of economic activity released on Wednesday, the economy lost momentum in the middle of the year and that 2016 may not be any better than 2014 and 2015.
There are two key dates coming up: the national accounts that contain growth figures for the June quarter on September 2 and the August labour force figures on September 10.
They will give an update of the size of the government's task to lift jobs and growth heading into next year's election.
Share
