Reading the 1996 Employment Survey helps prove the axiom: Some of the figures provided are definitive, but for the most part you can pretty much read what you want into them.

Here is what cannot be disputed: Between 1995 and 1996 the number of jobs in the economy grew; international business added jobs at a dramatic pace; tourism employment declined; and white males continue to dominate decision-making jobs.

Nor can it be denied that more Bermudians are filling jobs than ever before, and few would deny that that is a good thing.

After that, depending on where you stand -- and how you read the statistics -- the survey can be all things to all people.

But the Employment Survey is important because it is one of the few indicators of the degree of progress being made by Bermudians -- black and white -- in the economy and one of the few non-anecdotal ways of determining the relative importance of Bermudians and non-Bermudians in the workplace.

These are likely to be important issues in the next General Election. Shadow Home Affairs Minister Alex Scott has already made much of the perception that Bermudians are not advancing to the top ranks of Government and the private sector in the same proportion as non-Bermudians. The Government is staking much on its promise to ensure all Bermudians enjoy the same opportunities through an expanding economy.

A comparison of the 1995 and 1996 Surveys bears both views out. Overall, the proportion of Bermudians and non-Bermudian-held jobs remained the same -- 78 percent to 22 percent.

But the survey says that relatively speaking, non-Bermudian sector growth far outpaced that of Bermudians.

Similarly, non-Bermudians were twice as likely as Bermudians to hold high level managerial or professional positions. But in raw numbers, there are some 6,289 Bermudians in management positions -- compared to 3,507 non-Bermudians.

Those figures nicely illustrate the problem with statistics.

A Government statement points out that when the 1996 Employment Survey is compared to 1991 figures, a different picture emerges. Since 1991, the number of Bermudian-held jobs has risen substantially while the jobs held by non-Bermudians appear to have remained steady -- suggesting many jobs held by non-Bermudians that were eliminated during the recession and are only now being brought back in.

At the same time, the explosive growth in international business in the 1990s has increased demand for high levels of expertise which are not always immediately available in Bermuda. And with Bermuda back at more or less full employment, vacancies now have to be filled by non-Bermudians as in certain areas there are no Bermudians available.

What's more disturbing is that the "glass ceiling'' has barely moved.

In 1996, 48 percent of white males held professional or managerial positions, but just 17 percent of black males were in the same occupations.

Black women, according to the survey, held 20 percent of those positions compared to 42 percent of white women.

According to the survey, these figures were unchanged from 1995.

Bermuda's social stability depends on people from all parts of society being able to progress. Changes in this area are inevitably going to be slow as it takes time to gain training and experience and to reverse Bermuda's long history of discrimination.

But based on the figures released yesterday, the rate of change in 1995-1996 was glacial -- and that's bad news for everyone.