Unemployment in UK
 

Above 2 million for the first time since 1997 up 138,400 in February biggest increase since comparable records began in 1971.

Average earnings including bonuses grew at the weakest annual rate since records began in 1991. The single month annual rate actually fell -- the first fall on record.

Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower thinks there could be one in 10 people out of work by the end of this year.

"It's clear that the data is absolutely dreadful," said Amit Kara, UK economist at UBS. "Going forward we expect unemployment to rise well in excess of three million through next year."

"These are tough times, these are very bleak figures," said employment minister Tony McNulty.

No shit?? Last one turn out the lights me thinks...........

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

how much does he get paid to point out the obvious !

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

He's worth listening to - he was the only one of the MPC members calling for rate cuts and predicting a nasty bust, for a long time.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Doomed, doomed I tell you!

If they could predict the future accuratly they'd be rolling around in money laughing right now. We entrust our financial descisions to a few people who private industry wouldn't hire, I just can't understand where we are going wrong ;).

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

More bad news...:blink:

Basically the UK taxbase is gone!



The government has limited scope to implement its planned stimulus package as borrowing soars, according to a key economic think-tank.

The Ernst & Young Item club forecasts that net borrowing will rise to £180bn in the forthcoming tax year and will exceed the chancellor's own prediction.

It said that public finances were deteriorating "at an alarming rate".

Shadow chancellor George Osborne called it "the worst fiscal mess any British government has created in peacetime".

The Item club also called for a temporary cut in national insurance contributions to encourage businesses to hire staff.

Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "One of the problems at the moment is that tax receipts have collapsed but we also need to look at the spending side of the organisation." The chancellor must provide some credible forecasts for the public finances

He added that there was "a great deal of scope for spending restraint", particularly among Whitehall civil servants.

On Thursday, the IMF said that the UK would have to borrow 11% of national income to battle the financial crisis - the highest of the G7 nations.

The Item club says that figure was overly optimistic. It forecasts borrowing to stand at 12.6% of GDP next year and that the UK would be running deficits over the next decade.

The Item club, which uses similar methodology as the Treasury forecasters, said that predictions by the chancellor, Alistair Darling, in last November's pre-budget report had been overtaken by events.

Total borrowing over the next five years would be £270bn higher than anticipated, it said.

The forecasters blamed the parlous public finances on falling tax revenues as a result of lower consumer spending and rising unemployment.

"The chancellor must provide some credible forecasts for the public finances and present an unambiguous medium-term plan for restoring them to health, " said Peter Spencer, chief economic advisor to the Item club.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

The Item club really don't like this Government.

Doesn't mean they're wrong of course, but most of it is their opinion...

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Does anyone like it?

From doing nothing they are suddenly running hither and dither putting the blame on everyone but themselves, and they are supposed to be running the financial watchdogs and regulators..:unsure:

As a last resort they end up with printing more and more money which might end all hope of the pound (currently undervalued) bouncing back.
Which in turn makes global money markets uneasy so instead of considering moving money back into the undervalued pound they have adopted a wait and see attitude.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

That's what they get for buying into the idea that the Thatcher consensus couldn't be challenged.

"end all hope"?? And on what basis do you say the pound is undervalued?

The global money markets right now are more or less being run according to flights to and from the dollar as confidence waxes and wanes, with a few side shows (Iceland, Korea (weak), Japan (strong)).

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

I remember the well run Tory General Election campaign of 1979, with posters showing huge queues at the unemployment office - the slogan was Labour Isn't Working. At that time, the unemployment rate was just over 1 million ( IIRC ) . A couple of years after Thatcher got elected, the unemployment figures rose to over three million.

Here was have potentially a Labour government overseeing up to 3 mill out of work. Wonder how history will repeat itself this time?

When's the next General Election due?

Now, we have a Labour government overseeing possi

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Any time between now and 3 June 2010. Depends on when the Prime Minister requests HM to dissolve Parliament and call it.....

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

God, Im such an idiot.. I have only realised your name is a play on the phonetic spelling of Sharia.....

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Errmm.. hopefully you aren't and no it isn't.

Two completely different words from two distinct and different languages.

Anyway.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Ah, just an unfortunate coincidence....

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Maybe we can get a PM who was elected by the people instead of the one in the hot seat at the moment !

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

Our system doesn't work like that... a ruling party could change leader the day after a general election and they'd be nothing that could be done about it.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

'In January 1982, the inflation rate had dropped back to 8.6% from earlier highs of 18%, and interest rates were then allowed to fall. Unemployment continued to rise, reaching an official figure of 3.6 million — although the criteria for defining who was unemployed were amended allowing some to estimate that unemployment in fact hit 5 million.'

Aye and Ince will still say she did a good job.

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

it was a bit different then, huge unionised business that was unprofitable and unsustainable. Some hard falls had to be taken.

Other countries such as France now face exactly the same problems we had back then, on top of all the other shit happening..

Re: Unemployment in UK
 

It was fascinating battle really, Thatcher and her hit man Norman Tebbit were gunning for the Unions,and in effect, broke the backbone of the Union movement in the UK by beating the miners,who were considered to be one of,if not the, strongest unions.

After that, no real union has had the power to challenge government. Yes, here have been a few one / two day strikes, but really, they were meaningless. And the master stroke was of course to go to war with Argentina and rebuild the country's morale and pride. As much as I hated her, Thatcher certainly knew what she was doing.

Edited to rectify:

Bit hazy on the exact dates, so looked on Wikipedia.

Falklands Crisis 1982 ( not referred to as a war, as apparently neither country declared war ). At the same time unemployment was hitting 3M.

Thatcher re-elected in General Election of 1983.

Miners Strike 1984-85.