The left hand picture shows the level of employment and the right hand side the unemployment rate. The one that should be going up is thus going down and the one that should be going down is going up.

This ought to be seen as the benchmark moment with the unemployment rate having returned to its peak level at the height of the Global Financial Crisis. The rate is going to get worse before it gets better but there needs to be some clear recognition that the stimulus was not all that stimulating after all.

The reporter in The SMH is either a regular reader of Instapundit or doesn’t read him at all since he describes this turn of events as “unexpected”. Even the participation rate fell which means things are even worse than the stats actually show.

The economy unexpectedly shed jobs in August, taking the unemployment rate to a fresh-four year high and reviving the chance of a rate cut.

The number of people employed fell by 10,800 from the previous month, when it declined by a revised 11,400, the statistics bureau said today. That compares with expectations of a 10,000 increase. The jobless rate rose to 5.8 per cent from 5.7 per cent. . . .

The number of full-time jobs declined by 2600 in August, and part-time employment fell by 8200, today’s report showed. The participation rate, a measure of the labour force in proportion to the population, dropped to 65 per cent in August from 65.1 per cent a month earlier, it showed.

This is with record deficits and public spending continuing to rise. Needs explanation is all I can say.

[The data and the SMH story first noted by Andrew Bolt.]