You will recall my annoyance in previous blogs at Training and Employment Development Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney using the word ‘encouraged’ every month to describe the New Brunswick labour market. Well, she agrees with me on this in her latest press release related to the October labour market data:
“As I have said many times we have to monitor these statistics over the long term,” Blaney said. “I am encouraged by the growth in the labour force, which indicates that people have confidence in the economy. Given the slight increase in the unemployment rate, it looks like we are still experiencing some short-term effects from a downturn in the manufacturing sector and high energy prices.”
She continues:
“I am confident that we will have a good year overall,” Blaney said. “We remain committed to assisting New Brunswickers with their career goals so that they can achieve greater prosperity and enjoy the results of a robust economy.”
Now, anyone with a computer can go to the Stats Canada site and see that employment is down 5,000 since November of last year and both Blaney and Lord are still saying that December will be miraculous and we will end up 2005 with great employment growth.
Am I missing something?
And I can’t help take another swipe at the boiler plate they put at the end of their press releases about being ‘committed to assisting NBers with their career goals’. It sounds like Blaney is a guidance counsellor.