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The monthly DEEWR benefits data lags the unemployment rate, and is highly seasonal.
Mark the graph does a good job dissecting the data here.
The series reliably lags the ABS unemployment data – it takes time to file for benefits, etc. – however its value is that it confirms that the labour market did indeed soften in H2’11.
The ongoing weakness in this data ought to be the finish of the the argument that the unemployment rate never really rose, and that the labour market was never weak.
ricardian ambivalence 