Latest news with #statistics
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
German producer prices fall 1.2% y/y in May
June 20 (Reuters) - German producer prices fell in line with expectations in May, decreasing by 1.2% on the year, the federal statistics office reported on Friday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 1.2% decline. The office publishes more detailed data, opens new tab on its website.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Unemployment rate for May remains steady at 4.1 per cent
The unemployment rate for May has been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The latest jobs data shows the unemployment rate has remained steady at 4.1 per cent.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
The traditional Census has been switched off: What happens now?
2023 will be the last year the government will ask every person in NZ to participate in the Census. Photo: RNZ For many decades, one night every five years, every person in this country was asked to pick up a pen and answer a series of questions about themselves and the house they lived in. What is your name? How old are you? What language did you first learn? Are you studying? Working? Do you have electricity, internet, a car? How many rooms are there at your house and who lives there with you? The Census - a survey that attempts to count every single person in a population - has offered fascinating insights into New Zealand's changing face over the years. It's charted the downfall of both religion and smoking, and the rise of new technology and ethnic diversity. It's revealed the shifting shape of our households and relationships. Even more importantly, though, these demographic insights have helped to shape everything from where new schools are built, to where electorate boundaries are drawn. But 2023 has turned out to be the last year that the government will ask every person in the country to participate in the Census. Instead, from 2030 Census-style statistics will be created from a combination of data already collected by other government agencies, known as 'administrative data', and annual surveys of a sample of the population. This approach was heavily signalled in consultation that happened last year . A failed 2018 Census, another one in 2023 that had its fair share of problems, and the huge cost of both those Censuses compared to previous years, all led to the government's decision this week. Announcing the change, statistics minister Shane Reti said: "Despite the unsustainable and escalating costs, successive censuses have been beset with issues or failed to meet expectations." It will end more than 150 years of continuous data collection across nearly the entire population . Demographers who spoke to RNZ fear that once it's happened, the change might be irreversible. They warn it may magnify rather than solve the problem of under-counting Māori and Pasifika populations, and that important data currently only captured by the Census will be lost. Both risks could have flow-on effects for all kinds of spending and infrastructure decisions that affect our daily lives. Photo: RNZ Len Cook was New Zealand's chief statistician from 1992 to 2000 and has also served as national statistician in the UK. He says the change has come just when an accurate picture of New Zealand's population is crucial. "We're in the middle of what I call a population storm, where falling fertility, rising life expectancy, and huge migration volatility means that pretty much every one of our 67 local authorities now is changing in an entirely different way from the other," he says. "We really need to be able to make sure that we're going to know in each of these places what's changing and what's driving it." Yet Wednesday's announcement did not make it clear what data might fall by the wayside, he says. "What's the information we now need but we're no longer going to get? What's the information that we're going to get that's new? And if we don't know what we're no longer going to have, what are we going to do alternatively?" Cook has kept a close eye on what's happening in the UK, which had planned to move to a similar system for its next Census in England and Wales in 2031. The day before Reti announced an end to New Zealand's five-yearly Census, the UK Statistics Authority recommended to the government there that the planned move should not go ahead, and instead a traditional Census should be held. The UK is a "trailblazer" in the statistical world, Cook says. "If the UK is not prepared to make this move in six years' time, then we need to have a damn sight better explanation of why New Zealand is going to do it now." Moving to an administrative model would take New Zealand further away from the systems used in many countries we compare ourselves to, he says. Australia, the UK and the USA all currently use a full population-wide census. Professor Paul Spoonley Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Massey University sociologist Professor Paul Spoonley says he is "very nervous" about the changes. "The Census is an all-encompassing data collection exercise which makes sure that everybody is part of that exercise and is asked the same questions. Administrative data doesn't do that, so there are big data gaps." Spoonley says there are other countries that have moved to an administrative model, but they also use a population register to keep track of data. "If you take somewhere like Sweden, everybody has a unique identifier and it can be linked with administrative data. But you then need to link that data very carefully, and you need to make sure that it's up-to-date, because there are always gaps in administrative datasets." Stats NZ acting chief statistician Mary Craig said at the announcement that there would be a lot of work over the next five years to ensure the administrative data it will rely on is up to scratch. "There's a level of data from everybody, but does it actually have all the attributes that we would need for this type of exercise? No." Spoonley says even if New Zealand's collection of administrative data can be made more systematic, it still won't include all of the information the Census currently collects. There are plenty of things only the Census asks about, particularly around dwelling conditions and household make-up, and te ao Māori data variables like iwi affiliation and te reo proficiency. "What are the surveys going to look like that make up for the data deficiencies - are they going to be adequate? And we need a big sample to make sure we are capturing all of those communities in sufficient depth." He agrees that the 2018 and 2023 censuses were costly, and also cost the country dearly in robust statistics. But the government should have considered previous models for running the Census before it decided to scrap it entirely, he says. "We've had 35 censuses in New Zealand. It provides an enormous and rich database. "We're breaking that continuity with no guarantee that we're going to get good quality data that tells us what's happening in New Zealand." If the new approach also goes awry, he says, "We've got no comeback." "We're a modern society that relies on good quality data to make good quality decisions at a national and local level. The risk is that we're not going to have that data to make those decisions, and the problem is that that will become apparent at a moment that's too late to rectify it." Photo: RNZ Te Kāhui Raraunga and Data Iwi Leaders Group lead data technician Kirikowhai Mikaere says her organisation was involved in some of the consultation behind the changes, but she still has many concerns about how it will go ahead. Te Kāhui Raraunga was set up in the wake of the 2018 Census, which severely undercounted Māori populations, and was given kaitiakitanga of Māori data from the 2023 Census. "Administrative data, we know, doesn't necessarily have the robust coverage for some key variables for iwi Māori - in particular for the iwi affiliation variable, the Māori descent variable, and te reo Māori," Mikaere says. "One of the concerns of moving to a system that relies on the combination of administrative data and smaller annual surveys, is that it might roll back the progress we've made and negatively impact the quality of Māori data." Rural and remote communities, and those with vulnerable populations, find it harder to access government services. The new approach could compound that problem, Mikaere says. "Administrative data is primarily collected from the delivery of services. If you don't access those services, then you're not seen in administrative data." Te Kāhui Raraunga worked closely with Stats NZ during the 2023 Census and was hoping to meet the agency and minister at the end of this month to discuss some of its solutions to those concerns, Mikaere says. "We support the modernisation of data collection in Aotearoa but it's really essential that the Crown works in genuine partnership with iwi to make sure that the new approach doesn't repeat historical data collection failings for Māori. "How do we make sure that all of our communities are seen in this alternative system?"
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
France's Economy Is Falling Behind as Europe Gradually Recovers
France's economy is falling behind the rest of Europe with weakness across the board — just as uncertainty over budget cuts looks set to return, according to the statistics office. The 0.6% increase in gross domestic product in 2025 will be less than the euro-area average for the first time in three years, Insee forecasts published Wednesday show. After rising just 0.1% in the first quarter, GDP will advance 0.2% in each of the next three.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
ONS chief under fire for wearing trans badge
Britain's under-fire chief statistician has been condemned for wearing the 'flag of transgender activism' during her first address to staff. Emma Rourke wore a badge depicting the trans-inclusive Pride banner as she spoke to workers at the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In 2023, the ONS was humiliated after it was forced to withdraw official statistics which massively inflated the number of trans people in the country. The survey had found that one in 200 people over the age of 16 self-identified as a different gender, but it emerged that many people who did not speak fluent English had misunderstood the question. The office has also been accused of producing misleading data on worklessness, which has made it harder for the Bank of England to control inflation. Ms Rourke took over as acting national statistician earlier this year, after her predecessor retired through ill health. Critics said her decision to wear the flag, which indicates a belief that there are more than two biological sexes and that transwomen are women, was an 'ostentatiously political move'. Civil servants are expected to be impartial under the civil service code and uphold the Nolan Principles of public life, while earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that transwomen were not legally women. Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at women's rights charity Sex Matters, said: 'Wearing the flag of transgender activism during her first address to staff as acting national statistician is an ostentatiously political move by Emma Rourke. 'The civil service code tells civil servants to be impartial. Rourke's actions signal that when it comes to the clash between biological sex and self-defined 'gender identity', she has picked a side. 'Rourke also oversaw the disastrous question on gender identity in the 2021 census, which was worded to appeal to transgender activists and so incomprehensible to many respondents that the results have been classified as unreliable. 'Rourke's appointment as acting National Statistician suggests that the ONS has learnt little or nothing from the census debacle. It will also dishearten the many ONS employees who know that sex is a material fact, and that it matters in official statistics.' The Progress Pride flag, updated to include intersex people in 2021, is based on the rainbow flag but adds other colours - pink, light blue and white - to specifically reference trans people. Ms Rourke took over from Sir Ian Diamond who stepped down last month due to health issues. Before that, she was deputy national statistician for health, population and methods, which meant she oversaw the ONS debacle on sex and gender identity. At her first 'ONS Live' event for all ONS staff, Rourke said she had an 'uncomfortable message' for staff about Sir Robert Devereaux's forthcoming review into ONS culture, expected to be released imminently. She said: 'It is likely to continue to be difficult for us as an organisation – we are experiencing ongoing challenges in being able to stabilise our suite of core statistics.' A spokesman for the ONS said: 'ONS strives to be an inclusive organisation where everyone feels respected. 'We are proud to visibly support all our colleagues, who are delivering ONS statistics with utmost professionalism and impartiality.'
