ABSTRACT
The main aim of any statistical series is to provide a reliable and accurate portrayal of the phenomenon being measured; simply changing its format, or the way it is collated, does not alter the actual level of unemployment, inÁation, economic activity, trade or whatever. For example, UK governments have made several changes to the ways that ofÀcial unemployment Àgures are recorded. These changes have had the cosmetic effect of reducing the unemployment Àgures, but in several instances all that changed was the way unemployment was estimated; the same number of people were still unemployed!
