Goldman Sachs economist Dick Li has dissected the government's latest unemployment figures and discovered some unlikely economic culprits lurking in the job queues.
There are thousands of them, sneaking off from their posts as the backbone of society, leaving the rest of us spineless and in charge of keeping the home fires burning without burning down the flat.
According to Mr Li, housewives are re-entering the workforce in droves, with 20,000 of them swelling the labour force between May and August. If they'd just stayed home, he implies, the unemployment rate would be only 6.8 per cent instead of 7.6 per cent.
In July, 67.5 out of every 100 women between the ages of 30 and 50 were working or looking for jobs - although you've got to admire the bravery of that half a woman, who'd have to work four times as hard, rather than twice as hard, to get the same credit as a man.
A year ago, only 65 women out of every 100 were working or looking for jobs.
Fortunately for up-market retailers and over-priced day spas, this trend probably doesn't mean tai tais are hollowing out the hallowed halls of The Landmark in order to dust off the CVs, tart them up and schlep around the city wearing shoes more appropriate to an age of foot-binding rather than walking.
In fact, Mr Li says it's a fair guess a lot of these women are low-skilled migrants, recently forced to look for work because their husbands working in the construction industry - where unemployment runs at 16.7 per cent - have lost their jobs.
