The US has published two monthly rates of unemployment since the mid 1990s and in Europe Jacques Freyssinet (b.1937), the prominent French labour economist, has succeeded in having what he calls “halo du chômage” or unemployment halo — unemployed people seeking work who are not included in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of unemployed — included in official data. Official training programmes also give an opportunity to massage the data and in Ireland Enda Kenny, taoiseach, has announced a bogus full-employment target.