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Thing to remember about the headline employment figures is that they're quality-blind. People who lose skilled well-paid jobs at Ford or Aviva and wind up on precarious zero hours contracts working 1+ hours a week, or self-employed in the gig economy, still count as "employed".
But behind the scenes, you're swapping a significant income tax take for major benefit costs. So the UK's financial position suffers, even as that of the individuals concerned suffers too.
None of that shows up in the glowing headlines. It does in the real world, though!
It's like saying "fewer people go without food". If you insist on counting a meal as "at least one grain of rice" that's not a surprising assertion, yet it doesn't mean people aren't starving and desperate.
Because all headline heavily manipulated employment figures measure is the number of people who worked 1+ hours a week on average last month. Such a low bar, a slug couldn't slip under it. Yet it's touted as an astonishing achievement by the Tories. Lies, damn lies & statistics.
