There were also some problems with the earlier signalling which we wanted to avoid. In certain situations it was probably difficult to determine whether the signal in a speech should be interpreted as an individual member’s opinion or whether it reflected the views of a majority on the Executive Board. If the individual Board members sent out different signals it could probably also be difficult to distinguish a clear message. In addition, it was unclear when and if the signals should be sent out. Finally, and at least as important in my opinion, there was also a democratic aspect to this question. This has to do with the fact that we are an independent authority and that the general public should have good insight into the decision-making process. There must be no doubt that the interest rate decisions are actually made at the monetary policy meetings and not at some other, more diffuse, point in time – in some informal way that prevents insight. If the signalling prior to the meetings leads people to believe that the interest rate decisions have been made in advance of the meetings, then doubts may arise. Why has this led to a debate? The fact that the debate on our communication has been fairly lively probably has several explanations. To begin with, the pace of our development towards openness and clarity has been fairly high over the past two years. And if one makes a lot of changes in a short time it is not so surprising that discussions arise.
And in 2006 both the number of hours worked and the number of persons employed rose quite substantially. This was partly because the number of people in employment measures increased considerably during the fourth quarter of last year. But despite the fact that fewer people are in labour market programmes this year, the number of employed has continued to increase. This indicates considerable strength in the labour market. We also assess that employment will continue to increase during the forecast period, but at a slower rate. The fact that the pace slows down is due to the economic upturn slackening. It is also due to higher wage increases contributing to a lower demand for labour. The supply of labour has also increased, but not as much as employment. Open unemployment has thus fallen (slide 7). According to our forecast, the labour supply will continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate, during the forecast period. This development is mainly due to the economic cycle, but also to some of the Government’s measures. The fact that the rate of increase is slowing down is due to the economic upturn slackening, and also to factors such as the number of persons in the age groups with high participation in the labour force declining. All in all, this will lead to the number of open unemployed persons continuing to fall, but at an ever slower rate. Compared with what we were expecting in June, the conditions in the labour market have become tighter.