The controversy as to whether Malta is out of recession rages on.

The opposition states that the government never said that Malta was in recession, and therefore wonders why it is now taking credit for doing so much work to get it out of it.

For its part, the government accuses the Labour Party of putting spokes in the country’s wheels instead of giving its support at a time of crisis.

That is, of course, the political game that we have grown accustomed to. What is black for the Labour Party is white for the Nationalists, and the other way round. The large amount of grey that is in between is conveniently ignored.

It is common knowledge that the numbers game plays an important role in politics. Any statistics that are published can be interpreted in many ways, and very often the half-full hall-empty glass syndrome comes in. The government sees the good side, and the opposition sees the negative figures. It has always been like this and it will remain so.

And so it was not a surprise that, recently, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Labour leader Joseph Muscat saw and interpreted statistics in a different way.

Joseph Muscat started it off by saying that seven people have lost their job each day in the last months. This was found to be very true when statistics were obtained from the Employment and Training Corporation.

But the same statistics showed that 11 people were finding a new job every day. When Dr Gonzi found out about this, he began using this positive figure in his public appearances.

But neither Dr Muscat, nor Dr Gonzi, at least from what was reported, mentioned the “other” figure, the one that did not suit their purpose. Dr Muscat never said that 11 people are finding a job every day, because it is not convenient for him to do so. Of course, this was not mentioned on One News either; otherwise it would make his seven-jobs-a-day-lost comment irrelevant.

And so all those people who follow only the Labour media know that seven people have lost their job each day, but they do not know that for each seven that were lost, 11 were created. To them, the situation is bleak.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Dr Gonzi and PN media never said that seven people are losing their job every day. They just said that 11 people have found a new job every day in the last 14 months. For people who watch only Net TV, the situation is rosy.

Objectively speaking, it must be said that having created 11 jobs per day as against the seven that were lost is a creditable result. Having done so at a time of recession and when companies were shedding jobs by the hundreds, the result is even worthier. The country should be proud that, whereas elsewhere the recession had brought about devastating consequences and the government had to take harsh measures to hopefully bring matters back on track, in Malta the situation has been kept in check and the effects of the global financial difficulties have been minimal.

The loss of old jobs and the creation of new ones is also part of the economic process, especially that of a country like Malta that is moving from low-end to high-value industry.

But, the thing is, the whole picture should be given, not half of it. It is deceiving to just mention one part of the story.