is it just me or is the economy REALLY shafted?

I'm currently unemployed and it's a nightmare trying to get any work now, even from agencies. Also, the Job Centre no longer has enough Job Points (those computer terminals where you look for jobs) for the number of jobless people. Also the govenment hasnt bothered to improve these Job Points in the 5 years since I last used them and they still churn out jobs miles away from your area and also do not let you search in enough detail for the jobs you want and limit the number of search results that you can view.

People aren't spending as much money as they used to, and it all seems to be slowing pretty rapidly. I have to ask the question - what happened to all the money the government and councils made in the last 10 years from tax? To me it looks like the UK is heading down the poop chute.

Sorry to be so depressing.

Its the press that are talking us into a dive, the financial industry F***ed them selves up, but look on the bright side in a years time we will all be over it.

Soory to here your finding it hard to find work, having several redundancys over the last few years i know how hard it can be to find a job, but I always remember 80% of jobs are never advertised, and I found job centers are next to useless.

TheGreenRabbit":e1enbz3c said:

but I always remember 80% of jobs are never advertised, and I found job centers are next to useless.

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I own a recruitment agency. That statement is definately true. The key to finding a job is networking. And I'm not suggesting that Konahed is sitting waiting for a job to come to him.....

Konahed - if you want any advice PM me. I don't mean that in a patronising way, I've no idea what you do or what stage you're at in your career but there are ways.

word o mouth is the best way to get a job...always is ...never failed me ..every time im telling people i need a job i get told about 1 here or there that some bloke is looking for some one..usually they are too lazy to advertise.....hate job centers...last time i tried them they tried to send me to a job 30 miles away and i didnt have transport then...useless bunch.

TheGreenRabbit":1e0y4cfb said:

Its the press that are talking us into a dive..

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I dont think it is actually. This has been on the cards for years because of the stupid growth in house prices. This is also an interesting statistic:

The rise in the headline rate of unemployment to 5.5% took it to its highest level since early 1999.

With unemployment rising, people are looking to the government for a response

Long-term jobless 'could double'

The increase in the claimant count was the seventh in a row and was the biggest monthly rise since December 1992 - during the UK's last economic recession.

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That was the figures up until July this year. We're now at the end of October. I can tell you I have noticed significant changes for the worse in the last 2 months.

konahed":3fdk0v9h said:

I have to ask the question - what happened to all the money the government and councils made in the last 10 years from tax?

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Think they used most of it so that people in scotland can have a better benefits system than the rest of us
In all seriousness, I expect they invested it soundly. Somewhere really safe, lets say a volcanic place surrounded by fish!
Be getting out of the uk as soon as I have enough product training under my belt. 2 years max and then will be applying for a transfer to oz.
This country is going down the shitter. Just wish I had sold up and done it years ago

TheGreenRabbit":3lgeq064 said:

the financial industry F***ed them selves up.

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Pedantic maybe, but the banks, not the whole industry F'd themselves up. I work for a financial institution and we are fine.

NickD":3cd9j8ce said:

TheGreenRabbit":3cd9j8ce said:

the financial industry F***ed them selves up.

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Pedantic maybe, but the banks, not the whole industry F'd themselves up. I work for a financial institution and we are fine.

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For now maybe. HBOS was fine on a Monday, by Friday it was in the shit big style. nothing is safe at the moment.
Or is it? I took great comfort in the week in the fact that despite the general concensus that we are all fucked and will soon be plunged back into becoming hunter gatherers or starve, our ilustrious (and unelected leader) still had time to discuss the potty mouths of a a pair of arses who are overpaided to 'entertain' us and used a naughty word on the radio last week. This despite presiding over the biggest financial meltdown since the Wall Street Crash and the fact that our our God bothering chums over the pond are about to elect a new world leader on behalf of the 'free' world. Nice to know he's got things sufficiently under to control to comment on such trivial matters.
As for the country going down the pan, well we've been in decline since old Queen Vic snuffed it- things have just accelerated somewhat over the last ten years.
I'm also afraid moving to OZ is probably not far enough away now that most Geordies have now heard of it, there's hardly a builder or taxi driver left and it's only a matter of time before we hear that chipper phrase 'alreet hinny' on neighbours. I for one will making a complaint to the broadcasting standards waffen the first time this happens.
We really are quite fucked arn't we?

i'm not a home-owner, i have no real credit and i have a job

so far this recession is working out quite nicely for me - falling fuel prices leading to falling everything else prices works for me

cce":2tdo0yg4 said:

i'm not a home-owner, i have no real credit and i have a job

so far this recession is working out quite nicely for me - falling fuel prices leading to falling everything else prices works for me

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fuel prices ARE going to shoot back up again soon.

weirdly the bike industry in UK at least has had a pretty good last month due possibly to the better weather