Britain's dole queues grew at the fastest pace since records began, pound collapsing

crazygaijin

The value of the pound is collapsing yet again

And that was before the jobless figures. No wonder that the value of the pound – which shows what the world really thinks of this country – is collapsing yet again.



February's British jobless numbers were always going to be grim - the City was expecting to see more than 80,000 more people out of work. But what emerged yesterday was truly shocking.
Britain's dole queues grew at the fastest pace since records began, taking the headline total to over two million for the first time in 12 years.

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-ch...all-14681.aspx

Maybe those 2 mil unemployed should move to Japan.

I live in Tokyo and the pound is so weak and the Yen so strong, you can earn 50pounds an hr minimum, you can get 60pounds an hour to stand in the street holding a sign

I was sending money in Yen back to the UK but now I think I will wait because the pound is going down even more.

Soon you will be able to get 80pounds an hr to clean toilets or wash the floor in a factory in Tokyo.

Poor old UK, what happened how did we get to this?

ManAtHome

A weak economy caused by a weak government according to gordon brown (at least that's what he said in 1992, but now it's caused by a globally thing apparently...).

But worry ye not, the rest of the world maybe catching on - a race to the bottom is still on the cards.

novazombie

The news that the Financial Services Authority is considering new mortgage rules that would cap loans at three times the borrower's salary (see here for more) sounds a lot like a race to the bottom.

while the average house price in the UK is about £150,000, the average wage is only about £25,000. Three times that is £75,000, plus deposit. So roughly speaking, a return to three times earnings means a 50% drop from here.

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/property/how-far-do-house-prices-have-to-fall-14677.aspx

RDB

Yes what has happened to the UK when factory workers in the far East are earning so much more than Doctors and Solicitors here?

The race for the bottom is a good thing soon we get back to 3x earning for average house prices the better.

Why is Government delaying it so much just dragging this thing out.

We will get there, but I think it will be yrs away.

Not so long if they keep falling 2% mth though.

mardatha

but it depends how much factory workers in the far east pay for rent or mortgages doesnt it ? Maybe a one bedroom studio runs about £1500 a week !

ad9898_3

And to think, Clown is so deluded he expects other world leaders to team up and follow him into oblivion.

RDB

If Feb was the worst since records began for newly unemployed whats March going to be like? The next few months for that matter?

If that is true about Doctors in UK being able to earn more cleaning floors in Japan then why dont we all just move there?

Is that really true what the OP said?

tirano

Things are so good in Japan, there are only 5000 people living rough in Internet Cafes !

Even before the world's second-largest economy began its astonishingly rapid slide last fall, the government estimated that there were upwards of 5,000 Japanese who were effectively full-time residents of Internet caf!s. Now, staff say, all 80 cubicles at the Manga, one of an estimated 600 caf!s around Tokyo, are booked solid on most nights. Many of those bedding down are people like Mr. Takimoto, contract workers who lost their jobs in recent weeks and months as the global economic crisis slammed hard into export-reliant Japan.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090317.wjapan17/GIStory/

RDB

Shows how bad things are in the UK.

If Japan has got it so bad, but you can still earn more there per hr cleaning toilets than most professions here in the UK.

Unemployment in Japan has always been very low, in the UK its growing faster then records began.

The sooner house prices bottom out the better.

crazygaijin

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/why-the-pound-is-healthier-than-it-looks-14744.aspx

"
Sure, the UK economy is in a shocking state. Credit conditions are still tight in spite of the endless bailouts, interest-rate cuts and money-printing exercises. Unemployment is 6.7% and rising. Consumption is falling, along with house prices and the general savaging of our personal finances. Our public finances are horrible, as Alistair Darling conceded in his budget. And the latest figures show that GDP fell 1.9% in the first three months of this year. That's the biggest decline since 1979."

woody252506

novazombie wrote: »

The news that the Financial Services Authority is considering new mortgage rules that would cap loans at three times the borrower's salary (see here for more) sounds a lot like a race to the bottom.

while the average house price in the UK is about £150,000, the average wage is only about £25,000. Three times that is £75,000, plus deposit. So roughly speaking, a return to three times earnings means a 50% drop from here.

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/property/how-far-do-house-prices-have-to-fall-14677.aspx

Where I live, and excluding the most expensive areas of England, the average house price of £150,000 buys you a 3 bedroomed semi with a garage and decent size gardens.

Why would someone wanting to purchase on their own buy a house like this? Surely someone buying alone would be looking at 2 Bed semis / townhouses which now are slowly dropping to between 80k - 100k.

I highly doubt we'll see another 50% drop in house prices so that an average earner can afford to buy that nice 3 bed semi based on their own income. I believe, like most, that there will still be drops, however not by such a high amount.

I agree that lending needs to go back to 3x salary levels, but I also believe people now need to be realistic and see that many have bought more than they actually need over the last 5 years. Peoples expectations and the want of a nice big house need to drop too!:cool: