Underemployment

This is one of the components of that complex tapestry that comprises the totality of a nation's economic and employment success (or failure), but because of the significance of several other aspects, it tends not to come into the public consciousness to anywhere near the same extent.

By 'underemployment' is meant those who are in work, but for fewer hours than they'd desire. Usually it refers to part-time workers who wish to go full-time. There is a simple graph covering the years from 2000 to the present (2013); but as I don't know its copyright status I am just providing a link to it.

The figures are interesting, though, especially when separated out into those for the Labour years in government and those from when the Coalition took over during 2010. As the majority of that was in the Coalition period, I am including that year's figure in their table below. Note that, for fairly obvious reasons, there is a lag between a government's actions affecting the nation's economy and its impact on underemployment (among other things it affects).

UPDATE 6 November: the lag effect also shows clearly in the employment percentage data, as this graph covering the best part of three decades shows. When one puts in mental markers where the government changed, and checks the trends leading up to those points, it all drops into place.

Here, then, are the figures (in millions of employees) for the Labour years from 2000, thus starting at what I understand was the tail-end of the reduction in underemployment levels inherited from the John Major government...

• 2000 – 2·1
• 2001 – 1·8
• 2002 – 1·9
• 2003 – 1·8
• 2004 – 1·8
• 2005 – 1·8
• 2006 – 1·9
• 2007 – 2·0
• 2008 – 2·1
• 2009 – 2·7

Note the rocketing upward at the very end of that list.; and as we now know from the 'boom and bust' history of that period, no doubt it was set to continue to rise (along with a number of other negatives) once the impact of 2008 has really bitten.

Now for the Coalition Government years, to date...

• 2010 – 2·7
• 2011 – 2·8
• 2012 – 3·0
• 2013 – 3·1

Yes, it has actually slowed instead, and perhaps more or less halted. We might even see a period of reduction again, now that our economy is in what I am calling a 'mini-boom'..

This is really good news, as this is perhaps underestimated as an economic indicator. While not at big as the headline-grabbers, it should nonetheless be heeded and not pushed largely out of the national awareness.

I for one shall be watching this in future years, and periodically noting trends and progress. The present change not only of trend line but of 'gut feel' is what expects under a Conservative government, even one in coalition, so all this isn't exactly a surprise. It is, though, still a valuable ingredient in building up one's mental picture of how our economy is shaping up and where it is heading.

Voice, by Snow Miku

This is an interesting video, featuring not only the regular Miku but also (and as the lead character) the full size Snow Miku from 2011, which is the year this was produced. The most observant will notice straight away that, although the song is Voice, the stage and motion have been 'borrowed' from Depression of Cybernetics.

No English words have been provided; but this is so stark and visually arresting a video that it's worth viewing just as-is: the song seems to complement the imagery perhaps surprisingly well...

Miku and Friends at Gateshead

This is all but the first few songs of the Gateshead concert put on by MikuUK (or 'UK39' as they now prefer to be called), video-ed from within the (somewhat chatty at times) audience. Yes, the focus drifts from time to time, but it gives a good idea of how it went.

Actually, for a fan-based vocaloid concert, it's quite good, and some is really good. Rin and Len at the start are rendered extremely clearly, brightly, and do have a three-dimensional appearance that is getting on for as good as one gets at the official events.

The motion is generally good quality, if a little unambitious much of the time (these aren't the 'official' motions for these songs) and in a couple of numbers Miku appears to be rollerblading (that 'sliding feet syndrome' I have discussed before), but overall it's a good effort. More motion capture would make a world of difference, rather than trying to create motions by bone manipulation(!)

The live band is welcome, and are quite good, though unsurprisingly not in the league of the now-legendary 39s who performed at several of the big concerts in Japan in 2011 and (I think) early 2012. The sound mix is nearly always excellent, unusually well done, I'd say. It is clear that the whole team has put a lot of hard and dedicated work into their events, in fact, breaking new ground for us here in the UK.

Anyway, here's 35 minutes of the Gateshead event, which I hope you'll enjoy despite the technical issues of focus and audience chat in places...

Screen Captures of the Day – 4 November 2013

This is a new occasional feature to 'snapshot' instants from the music videos I might (or might not) have featured on the 'blog. The reason for doing so is to allow us to more fully appreciate the costumes, models or whatever else stands out, without having to cope with an ever-changing and move sene.

Today I have for you Miku from doriko's Romeo and Cinderella, and SeeU from Dr.Yun's Star. Clicking on an image will, as usual, display it at full size...

Some Survive

Pubs, in this case. I have just been reminding myself (in Google Street View) or where, years ago, I'd sometimes encounter some cats in a particular road in Wimbledon. This is (and was then) Merton Hall Road, which comes out opposite the hospital where I was born – the Nelson Hospital in Kingston Road.

On that junction was Ye Olde Leather Bottel; and the pub' is still there, or at least it was the last time the Google camera car passed that way last year, so it's probably a safe bet. Its updated but less stylish name signs now say simply 'Leather Bottle', so in a sense it has both changed its name and kept it the same!

Turn right into Kingston Road and carry on along to the railway bridge at Wimbledon Station, and just beyond, on the left, is a less happy story. The Emma Hamilton is now boarded up. It was still there, and obviously running as it always had, when the camera car had passed that way before, as I could tell, having known the place from the outside since my youth – and inside from when I was eighteen, back in 1967.

It was old then, so had been able to keep going for many decades.

The primary reason being cited for pub' closures is Labour's somewhat ham-fisted smoking ban, and no doubt this was the cause here too. It took some places longer than others to finally give up after trying to keep going one way or another, and it has to be said that the 'Emms' (as we locals knew the place) did well to last this long – but now it's gone...

I have said before, on more than one occasion, that when a country has a corrupt law that treats some of those people or things it is deemed to cover in a different way from the others, any change to other laws, regulations, taxes or whatever will be almost certain to generate perverse effects. Tobacco products should have been included with all the other drugs many, many years ago; then this and other oddball results wouldn't have been on the cards in the first place. There wouldn't have been a need for a selective (i.e. in certain places only) smoking ban at all.

Similarly to the Emms, the Britannia close to Chatham Station and not far from my present home has also been struggling for some time. The previous landlord tried introducing all sorts of innovations and tweeted the (necessarily brief) details. Then he went a few months ago – but now it too is closed and looks as though it might be permanent, so his replacement obviously wasn't successful either.

The world is always moving on, of course; and interestingly – back at the Leather Bottle – the restaurant on the opposite corner was once a Tapas Bar. That lasted only a couple of years or so, and it has changed a few times since. It is currently Thai cuisine.

A few doors down was Sagar Tandoori. Sagar sold the business to Shamas who ran Zayka in Ealing, and it became the second Zayka. I advised Shamas and supported his excellent eaterie strongly, including getting no less than Fay Maschler to visit and write a review in her regular newspaper feature.

Again, like the Emms, after a long innings – almost twenty years by my reckoning – Zayka in Wimbledon has closed, similarly between the earlier visit of the Google camera car and its latest sweep through the area. Intriguingly, it is now, of all things, a Tapas Bar!