The Age reporters are continuing seriously to misinterpret the trend in unemployment in Victoria. The latest example is Tim Colebatch's article of 4 January attributing the increase in unemployment in the three months to November 1993 compared with the same period in 1992, to the "massive retrenchments carried out by the State Government".
The fact is the increase in unemployment between the two periods is entirely a reflection of the increase in the proportion of the working age population wanting to work. The proportion of the working age population that was employed in Victoria actually increased slightly.
This reflected the strong growth in private sector employment, which has more than absorbed the reduction in public sector employment.
The cuts in public sector employment in Victoria are an important part of the policies needed to restore the competitiveness of the state's economy that is required to reduce unemployment in the medium term.
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