Michael is joined by Gary Morgan, Chairman of Roy Morgan Research, who says the latest ABS figures were “phony” and called on the government to revise the definitions.

“The current definitions were made up after the Second World War,” he said.

“Things have changed a lot. There’s far more women and part-timers in the workforce. People change jobs more.”

Mr Morgan, whose company produces its own survey-based jobless rate, notes that there are now far more women and part-time workers in the workforce, and people change jobs more.

Record uncertainty about the job market and doubts over the relevance of the ‘official’ ABS unemployment rate have prompted calls for more information on the number of welfare recipients and a rethink of how ‘unemployed’ is defined

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