Here's a little stat that shows why putting focus on just the unemployment rate is always silly - but especially so right now.

The unemployment rate for 15-19yos is now 19.9% - terrible, but not historically so. It was above 20% just back in 2015. 1/7

But here's the thing, since March the participation rate of 15-19yos in the labour force has gone from 55.1% to 45.5%.

For the first time ever fewer than half of 15-19yos are either working or looking for work. 2/7

What does that mean?

Well since March 157,000 15-19yos have lost a job, but get this - the total number of 15-19yos unemployed also fell 5,000!

Wait, the number of teens unemployed fell?

Yep. 3/7

This is because to be unemployed you have to actively look for work (and fair enough you have to have some definition), but what has happened is those teens who lost their job have not bothered to look for work, and 5,000 unemployed have also given up. 4/7

So when you do not actively look for work, you are not classed as unemployed and thus you don't show up in the unemployment rate.

[Short aside, this does not mean the Unemp Rate is dodgy, it just means it does not measure everything] 5/7

If we instead put those 162,000 teens out of the labour force in the unemployed column and counted them as in the labour force, the unemployment rate for 15-19yos would not be 19.9% it would be ... (deep breath)...
...
...
....
35.6%!! ......6/7

And if we were to add just those 15-19yos to the total Australian unemployed it would turn our current unemployment rate from 7.1% to 8.2%.

So if you hear anyone saying the lower UR peak is a sign of success. Feel free to laugh at them. 7/7