Despite government spin there is no momentum behind economic growth – austerity is failing working people. The CSO this week released the latest live register figures that showed a marginal drop in unemployment.
In an attempt to mask the failure of austerity policies to bring a recovery in the economy the government throughout the crisis have attempted to put as positive a spin on economic figures.
Just hours after the release of the data a headline on the website of an Irish newspaper proclaimed ‘recovery gains momentum’. This is the ultimate spin. It does not represent a real recovery in the economy; the figures largely reflect people leaving the labour force and the motor of emigration which is driving masses of young people out of the country. Last week, the CSO had another report out which showed that the rate of emigration has increased by 2.2%, with 243 people leaving the country daily, which amounts to one every six minutes!
These figures and the job creation figures are underpinned by the growth in part-time and precarious, low-paid jobs. Ireland now has the highest rate of this type of employment in the EU. It is a damning statistic which underlines the failure of the government’s action plan for job creation. We need decent full-time jobs not precarious low paid 1913 style jobs.
