What’s in a headline.
Here are the three leading stories over the weekend about the latest job data from Statistics Canada. Note that the T&T and DG actually ran the same story but with slightly different headlines:
Times & Transcript
N.B. gov’t hails record job numbers
Unemployment hits all-time low of 8.6 per cent; N.B. workforce at record 360,000 for second straight month
Daily Gleaner
N.B. unemployment rate dips, but experts worry about future
Telegraph-Journal
N.B.’s unemployment rate hits 30-year low in May
Statistics Canada says drop due to workers leaving the labour force
Now, I told you on Friday Al Hogan would spin this as positive as he could. He actually goes out and gets a quote from Greg Thompson crediting the wonderful success of the New Brunswick job market to Bernard Lord.
So, you the faithful few that read this blog once and a while consider this. Canada has the best month for job creation (employment growth) in four years. Almost 100,000 new jobs created across Canada.
None in New Brunswick.
Not one friggin’ new job and Al Hogan gets quotes from Ministers slapping each other on the back for how great things are.
Now consider this. Just about every non-media source out there has started to raise serious concerns about the New Brunswick economy. About the depopulation, etc. Consider the newly formed NB Business Council which recently warned about the serious challenges ahead. Or the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce and their concerns about depopulation. Or Donald Savoie and his new book. On and on – even the occassional blog about this stuff.
But the mainstream media, led by the T&T, mosies along using every opportunity to plug the Tory government’s wonderful prosperity. They seem to want to create a parallel universe where New Brunswick is Alberta. If they say it, it must be true.
But it’s not.