I heard in the news this week that the latest unemployment figure for Jamaica was about 11.1 per cent, and that the latest unemployment figure for the USA was slightly below 10 per cent. There is something definitely wrong, almost comical, in this comparison.

For too long have our governments and state agencies continue to provide us with information, or procedures, that are archaic, irrelevant or designed to dupe the public. They will sometime keep on expounding on the inadequacies, but do nothing to change.

In the October 2008 Labour Force Survey, we are given an unemployment figure of 10.3 per cent. This calculation exclude 683,400 Jamaican who STATIN claim have stopped looking for work.

These are mainly young Jamaicans who may have been driven through frustration to stop actively searching for employment in the formal economy.

How does STATIN know how many persons are actively seeking employment? Those registered with, and keep renewing their registration with, the Ministry of Labour? I know a lot of persons actively seeking employment, and I cannot think of any that are registered with the ministry, or knows of such a procedure.

Anyway, to just remove 683,400 persons callously from the size of the labour force, and to assume that they now are either self-employed or not interested in being employed is ridiculous and dangerous. These mainly young Jamaicans are being left to join gun and drug gangs, wipe windshields, prostitution and other antisocial activities.

Meanwhile, the political leaders can smile and say our unemployment is not much different from First World industrialised countries. And our social planning does not make provision for them as unemployed Jamaicans.

I am, etc.,

KEITH PATRICK

patrick_keith@hotmail.com

Kingston 10