Sooty and Sweep

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8241637.stm


This just is no good, if you have to live off UK income for say six months, you are f@cked, appologies for my language, but why now, the months i want to emigarate?


Australia dollar at one-year high

Australia's currency has been boosted by demand for raw materials
The Australian dollar is at its highest in a year as confidence increases about the global economy.

The currency rose 0.5% to AU$ 0.86 against the US dollar. The Australian currency is up 21.5% this year.

Investors have been more positive about a global economic recovery, and the Australian currency has benefited from a rise in commodity prices.

Australia is one of the few developed countries to have avoided falling into a recession.

Chinese demand for its iron ore and other raw materials has also boosted Australian exports.

'Growth phase'

Separately, New Zealand's prime minister said that his country may be starting to grow again.

"We may be out of the worst of the recession and starting to move into a growth phase," Prime Minister John Key said.

The country's Treasury said that the April to June quarter was likely to represent the last quarter of contraction in the current recession, which started at the beginning of 2008.

Dairy exports, which are New Zealand's second-biggest foreign-currency earner, have surged 55% in the past two months.

The New Zealand dollar gained 0.6% on Monday.

njk435

Mate, if you have to live off UK income for 6 months, you are probably ****ed anyway. You and/or your partner should be able to get a job within a few weeks of arriving. It may not be the job of your dreams, but getting a job ain't that hard.

Easy for me to say - the ADF employed me the day before I left UK, but plenty of people arrive here and pretty much walk into jobs. Maybe working at Bunnings isn't your dream, but it gets you a wage and a step on the ladder.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

That makes the current employment position look a whole lot better than it really is. While Australia hasn't been hit as hard as the UK, unemployment here is still at 6% and rising. Those figures also hide a 'casualisation' of the Australian work force. Full time permanent jobs are falling, while part time and casual jobs are on the increase. My wife is part of this casual workforce and she has no idea from one day to the next if she will be working that day or not.

craig_m67

right.. so big picture then.

you don't want to move here because our (Aust.) economy appears to be doing okay (progressing) against your (UK) economy which is toast..

If you have a job in the UK, you will more than likely be able to get a similar job here.. then you can send those savings back and wear the exchange shoe on the other foot.

or you can not worry to much about the detail (cash) and just get on with it.. and enjoy the big picture.

Funky Monkey

That's very true.
My wife cannot get a job here in Perth either part time or casual. Every job she applies for they are telling her there are hundreds of applicants for one job. This is not the odd company telling her this but every one.
Point is it may not be as bad in Australia but it is slower than they like you to believe in certain parts.

the4ofus

Not totally true - we've been here a year now and I still can't get a job. I have been trying all sorts but had no luck So getting a job isn't as easy as you portray

Lynn xx

Sooty and Sweep

Hi,

I have spent around £2k on going to Oz so far, i am going in six weeks, if it gets worse, or stays at 1.9, then yep i will cancel, not worth it!

Australia, can wait for me, too expensive, houses, LOL, $500k average ok!

Australia lives in its own universe for me! I will look again when times look better, if they stay so out of sync, the UK is not that bad, the emigration factor has gone!


Sorry Expats, but Oz has priced itself out! Sooty

markandgill

I agree with Lynn.... Hubbie struggled to get a job when we arrived here in March, even though he was practacally promised one before we left the UK, he didnt get a full time permanent job until July!!!!! so we had 4 months without wages coming in, so it didnt take long going through our savings!
You definately need to research where you are thinking of going to, check out the following websites for jobs in the area you are heading to
Click here,here,here and here, they are all pretty good and will give you an idea of what jobs are available

Good luck with everything

Gill

Pearl&Wal

Lynn's is a cautionary tale.

I work for a small recruitment agency that is toughing it out along with all of the others. The Labour market for work is tight. Granted unemployment hasn't risen as dramatically as the UK but workers hours are being cut left, right and centre - this is the hidden effect that, while Australia puff it's chest out, few economists mention.

The number of people that we see that have come from the UK, SA and particularly NZ, had a holiday on the Sunshine Coast and then move here thinking they'll be alright for work is very high. They then find it very difficult to find work when it's all about who you now and not what you know. The Coast is very parochial in an already very parochial State.

I'm not saying don't come, just make sure you have a plan, can buy a business or skill sets that are IN DEMAND for that area (which is not necessarily the CSL List).

Best of luck to Lynn.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

A good, sensible, call. If Australia, at this time, is financially not a sensible move, then I see no point in coming on the off chance it might work out and endling up without a pot to pi$$ in if it doesn't.

hereandthere

Gotta love the the endless BBC propaganda! The reason the Australian dollar is so high against the pound is because the British Labour Government have totally destroyed the pound. AUD is not so high against other currencies and has been higher against the USD. Shameless lies and propaganda. The UK economy is toast right now, and about to get a lot worse. If you're euros, for example, the average UK house has lost 50% of value since 2007 - mostly thanks to sterling deval.

So "Oz" has not priced itself out in any way. What you mean is the British socialists have devalued sterling to a point that emigration is impossible. I knew they'd find a way to stop people leaving Britain.....

As for Aussie houses - yes they are seriously overvalued, but 1) you get a lot more for your money in Aus than UK, and 2) imminent Aus interest rate rises will soon wipe that over-value off.

Amazulu

I partly agree but the GBP is nowhere near it's lows against the USD - or even the Euro. I think a lot of the AUD's strength is due to the weakness of the USD, which is partly to do with the recent stength of the Dow. GBP will come back sometime in the future - always has, always will.

Although I don't like what we have in our current socialist government here, I know it is nowhere near as bad as the total cluster f**k that has been Gordon Brown. He (and Blair before him) has gone a long way in ruining a great country. A corrupt government that really needs replacing. Only then will the UK improve.

hereandthere

Totally agree about ALP. Nowhere near as destructive as Blair/Brown, but it's early days for the ALP in Aus. They'll be in power till at least 2013, maybe 2016 if there's an election this year.

Yes, sterling will come back - but I think this will have a lot to do with the performance of the euro, also the imminent Tory landslide might push the pound up temporarily, we'll have to see what annoucements the party make between here and the October/May election.

the4ofus

Awww Thanks

I do have a job i/v today so I need to get my a$$ off this computer and go get ready

Lynn xx

bcworld

Except:

...these figures are a few days old. But in fact, the only one of these major currencies the GBP has lost value against since the start of this year is the AUD. Sure, it affects a lot of people who post here - but it certainly isn't indicative of the Pound being 'destroyed'.

1 GBP currently buys US$1.63 - I remember getting in the $1.30s a few years ago - was the Pound toast then?

Selectively comparing one currency to another to suit your argument while ignoring conflicting views (which you seem to be able to take a look at when analysing the AUD's relative strength) makes you just as bad as the BBC!