Prepare to be shocked. On Thursday the Bureau of Statistics is likely to tell us that the unemployment rate has scaled new heights, climbing from 6.3 per cent to as much as 6.5 per cent. If it happens, unemployment will have hit a 13-year high. It'll be back to where it was before the first of Australia's two mining booms, and higher than it ever was during the global financial crisis. But the jump won't all be real. Here's why. Throughout July and August the government has been phasing in new rules for access to the Newstart unemployment benefit. It's becoming harder to get without actually applying for jobs to ... (full story)