Something about the UK employment figures does not add up!

(This was an old post I wrote as a draft and have just pressed 'publish')

So, let's start with this article:

Sensitive UK jobs report leaked by government department

Excerpt: 

The "substance" of the monthly labour market report, which includes official data on jobs and wages, was shared “with up to 300 people through a social media network” by the Department for Work and Pensions ahead of its publication, according to the UK Statistics Authority.
Ed Humpherson, the director general for regulation at the UK Statistics Authority, has written to Sir Robert Devereux, the permanent secretary of the DWP, to inform him of the breach. The leak occurred ahead of the scheduled release of this month's report on Wednesday morning.The jobs data is considered market sensitive, often resulting in movements in sterling and stock prices. It offers crucial insight on the strength of the economy, and on the likelihood of the Bank of England choosing to raise its interest rates.

My emphasis!

This is the chart that has been shown in this article:

Unemployment is pretty low then. At 5.1%!!!

Or rather EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

Unlike the Labour participation rate in America, which has been declining. It seems to be pretty good in the UK. Apologies for the patronising labels.

This goes up to 2014. In 2015 we of course grew by 1.3%! (What else?)

Really...

REALLY!!!

I have some information that might disagree with this assessment. (Dated because dates are relevant here)

30 October: Guardian: Steel crisis grows as Caparo cuts 452 jobs

30 October: Guardian: Chevron will cut up to 7,000 jobs as impact of falling oil prices continues

31 October: Guardian: Cash crisis ‘could close 50% of UK care homes’

3 November: Guardian: Michelin to close tyre factory in Northern Ireland

14 November: Guardian: Teesside steels itself for bleak midwinter as each week sees more jobs vanish

19 November: Telegraph: Royal Mail profits beat expectations as 3,000 jobs go

Guess they're getting rid of the 'growth' part of their business model huh?

19 November: Telegraph: Abandon ship: Dry Baltic Index hits record low

(The Dry Baltic Index, an index of the amount of shipping happening over the world, has continually broken new record lows. Acquaintances with friends in shipping also confirm this.)

21 January: Guardian: Pearson, Barclays and Virgin Media announce job cuts

These job losses, as oppose to the previous, seem to be non specific to UK companies. But the jobs listed to be lost over many countries equates to