SIR, Publication of the February employment figures has led to much throwing of hats into the air by ministers, on the basis that the Government has met, a year ahead of time, its February 1993 Accord "commitment" to increase jobs by 500,000 over three years. But one wonders whether it is, in fact, a cause for celebration to produce such a rapid rate of jobs growth. The last time that happened was in the 1980s -- and we all know what happened at the end of it.
Employment has been growing much faster than the labour force, and, with unemployment beneficiaries now exceeding the ABS figures for unemployed, it appears that it is now considerably easier to stay on the dole. This makes it more difficult to "attract" those on the dole into employment than it was in the 1980s.
Thus a continued rapid growth in employment would have to come largely from increased participation in the workforce, which now stands at 63.7 per cent. There are limits to how far this can go, at least in the short term. The present level is moving close to the peak reached at the end of the 1980s (64.1 per cent in June 1990).
This reinforces the case for quickly slowing down the growth in domestic spending by, at the very least, eliminating the Budget deficit of $7.4 billion now said to be in prospect for 1995-96. Failure to do so will raise the real prospect of a repetition of Australia's disastrous experience under the Accords of the 1980s.
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