[Vicky.]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22180300
UK unemployment rose by 70,000 to 2.56 million between December and February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.


Bad bad news..last I heard apparently there were loads of jobs around :S

Should have known better than to hope it was the case though and that things were going to get better.

These figures do not include those who are unemployed but on workfare or government 'training' courses.

Employment Minister Mark Hoban acknowledged that there were "still tough challenges ahead", but highlighted the importance of the fall in the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JA), and especially the drop among young people.

Ministers said the number of JA claimants fell in every region of England, Wales and Scotland, while the number of new claims was at its lowest level for more than four years.

This part really does not sit well with me at all. More unemployed yet less claiming JSA..meaning that there are a lot of people on sanctions right now basically...

[joeysteele]

More evidence that this Govt has all the wrong policies now. 2 more years of this likely but thankfully this time 2 years from now we should be in the election campaign,the election having to be held on 7th May 2015.
Hopefully this lot in the Cabinet lose their top jobs then too.

[the truth]

thatcherism lives on.....what happens to towns when the high streets finally all go bankrupt as the internet takes over?

[the truth]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

More evidence that this Govt has all the wrong policies now. 2 more years of this likely but thankfully this time 2 years from now we should be in the election campaign,the election having to be held on 7th May 2015.
Hopefully this lot in the Cabinet lose their top jobs then too.

agreed , what have they done in 3 years? ummmm reduced top rate of tax on the rich and increased vat to punish the poor. what a sick joke.

[Legend killer]

Same old out of touch Tories don't know why anyone expected any different this time around

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by the truth

agreed , what have they done in 3 years? ummmm reduced top rate of tax on the rich and increased vat to punish the poor. what a sick joke.

Exactly, nothing to offer at all now,I hoped for a lot from this coalition and it has failed miserably in my view.
Now with some of the most unsavoury and unnecessary policies still being wheeled out despite the evidence they are damaging real recovery and growth not doing a thing to help or create it.
Good riddance to them when they go for me now.

[Jack_]

Maggie would be proud

[the truth]

thatcherism DEFIES free market economics. she went from a socialist state to simply allowing the super rich to monopolise everything.......all we see now is industrial communities destroyed for the next 1000 years..fall in exports, fall in gdp, fall in production, fall in self reliance, fall in energy produced, she also wasted the north sea oil billions, doubled vat from 8 to 17.5% which crippled small business , she raised taxes on the poor, she oversaw 24% inflation which destroyed profitable industrries yet she refused to even allow them credit to get through the tough few years, she set the police against its own people and the army......divide and conquer......as for the falklands, was it necessary to sink the belgrano? really? ask and sailor in the navy at the time? oh and no social housing

[Niall]

A+ job they've done here. I don't understand how they managed to slip in that tax cut for the superrich without much objection in the face of all their recent economic failings and policy changes.

Originally Posted by Jack_

Maggie would be proud

I was just thinking the same thing.

[Nedusa]

I'd like to know the breakdown by age of this figure, I suspect Unemployment in the 18-35 yr range is far higher than previous levels.......why is this ??

BECAUSE THERE ARE NO JOBS.........!!!!!!

only College/University education or courses or schemes or voluntary work BUT no real jobs with structure and prospects, jobs that you can feel confident will last long enough to allow you to take out a mortgage (assuming the job pays enough to allow you to cover the monthly repayments)

There is nothing much out there apart from the service industries, which will always be there to cater for rich older people with money...

This situation is dire...really it is.. I don't think people appreciate how bad this could get, as having a large young unemployed generation of people will inevitably increase tension in the urban centres resulting in more rioting and demonstrations,more crime, more drug & alcohol abuse, more obesity further straining the already overstretched NHS, more vandalism, more delinquency, more ethnic unrest, more dependence on benefits etc...etc... There is a cycle here and it doesn't look good.

The Govt must plan to create proper jobs, trades,crafts but I fear thanks to Thatcher all these industries that provided these types of jobs have sadly now gone elsewhere...

The future is very worrying....at least given the current very high rates of students taking degree courses and the almost habitual consumption of fast/junk food we will have the smartest, fattest unemployed people in the World...!!!!

[Livia]

Originally Posted by the truth

agreed , what have they done in 3 years? ummmm reduced top rate of tax on the rich and increased vat to punish the poor. what a sick joke.

The highest rate of tax under Labour was 40p. So even though the Tories are taking it down from 50p to 45p, they'll still be paying 5% more than they did under socialist Labour. Why does no one ever mention that...? Also the Tories have taken more lower-paid people out of the tax system all together by raising the tax threshold to £10,000, the highest threshold ever. I can't pretend that the Tories have done everything - or even most things - right, but the discussion is always so one-sided.

[Vicky.]

I really think Cameron needs rid of Osbourne and IDS. The pair of them just seem to fail everytime they try something :S

The ideas behind most things are great(eg. the basic idea of the spare room subsidy). But nothing is thought through properly, and both seem too damn stubborn to try something different when it becomes quite clear that their current plans arent working. Georges austerity plans of cut cut cut were never going to work really. People cannot spend if they dont have anything to spend. If people dont spend, businesses lose profit, businesses lose profit they need to cut back on costs, which generally involves cutting back on a few staff..which equals more unemployed and the whole thing starts over again.

Cant complain about the taxbreaks for the lower paid though. That benefits me and a lot of people I know

[Beastie]

More people on part time jobs because companies are too tight to give hard workers who have been with the company for ages and are performing well "full time jobs". However with more jobs part time and flexible hours you would think more people would be in work. But then people work out that you get more money on the dole rather than working part time. I am sticking with my job but I need more hours. I am guaranteed 16 hours but it's not enough.

I am going away soon for a month anyway. So when I come back I might enrol on a childcare course or something. Children and old people will always need looking after so I think I rather look after children. Although I think there are always more jobs being advertised for care home staff.

[Ninastar]

Originally Posted by Beastie

More people on part time jobs because companies are too tight to give hard workers who have been with the company for ages and are performing well "full time jobs". However with more jobs part time and flexible hours you would think more people would be in work. But then people work out that you get more money on the dole rather than working part time. I am sticking with my job but I need more hours. I m guaranteed 16 hours but it's not enough.

I am going away soon for a month anyway. So when I come back I might enrol on a childcare course or something. Children and older people will always need looking after so I think I rather look after children. Although I think there are always more jobs being advertised for care home staff.

you'd be surprised how easy it is to get a job in childcare... almost too easy

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Livia

The highest rate of tax under Labour was 40p. So even though the Tories are taking it down from 50p to 45p, they'll still be paying 5% more than they did under socialist Labour. Why does no one ever mention that...? Also the Tories have taken more lower-paid people out of the tax system all together by raising the tax threshold to £10,000, the highest threshold ever. I can't pretend that the Tories have done everything - or even most things - right, but the discussion is always so one-sided.

i AM A TORY and I think theyre ruddy useless
surely everyone knows labour took it down to 40% but raised it to 50% at the ;last minute, labour were pretty useless too
(they ignore the vats tax loopholes through which corporations hide their profits , many havent even paid tax for the last few years?)
however the vat rise to 20% is simply insane , it takes even more from the disposable incomes of the working classes, it hammers businesses it hammers fuel , it raises the cost of living and keeps small businesses small......it doesnt hurt the rich as they can claim vat back

I agree about the 10000 tax threshold thats good but really it probably saves people in that bracket a few peanuts

meanwhile the energy monopolies ensure fuel poverty worsens
some people gas/water/electricity bills have doubled in a year, thanks to the deregultaed monopolies that control all our energy supplies

why should anyone have a monopoloy over british rain?

as for thatcher she was a disaster but I actually think Blair was even worse
the gap between rich and poor grew even wider under him and he did nothing to rebuild our manufacturing base, labour also created an encouraged even worse benefits dependency. But ultimately a lot of that is down to destroying these economies

meanwhile german manufacturing booms on, the demand for coal increases, the clean coal technology and carbon capture techniques advance beyond anything thatcher could have imagined too and the sole deep mine that stayed open in the valleys dug up £300 million worth of quality coal after shed tried to drown it out. In your face milk snatcher

[Omah]

It (the rise) pushed the unemployment rate to 7.9%, raising further questions about the UK's economic strength.

Under Thatcher, the unemployment rate rose from 5.3 per cent to a high of 12 per cent in 1984, before falling to 7.5 per cent when Thatcher left office. It began to rise again in 1990, and continued to do so after she left, reaching a high of 10.8 per cent in January 1993.

'We are all Thatcherites now,' says David Cameron.


I am the one in ten, a number on a list, a statistic, a reminder of a world that doesn`t care.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Legend killer

Same old out of touch Tories don't know why anyone expected any different this time around

Some weren't around the last time, or the time before that ....

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by Ninastar

you'd be surprised how easy it is to get a job in childcare... almost too easy

But I will need the qualifications first. Probably NVQ level 2/3. Might try and see if I can do it all in a year.

[Lee.]

Are you still with Next Beastie?

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by Lee.

Are you still with Next Beastie?

Yeah I am. Blurgh. I need a second job though. Something more creative where I can use my mind! You still enjoying your job Lee?

[Lee.]

Originally Posted by Beastie

Yeah I am. Blurgh. I need a second job though. Something more creative where I can use my mind! You still enjoying your job Lee?

Yeah, I'm not in admin any more, they let me out on the shop floor

Our shop doubled in size last year and we got a lovely new home department and as I had experience dealing with finance and processing credit, they put me there.

[Ninastar]

Originally Posted by Beastie

But I will need the qualifications first. Probably NVQ level 2/3. Might try and see if I can do it all in a year.

most nurseries let you do the course there...

[Vanessa]

That's terrible news.

[Me. I Am Salman]

My brother got AAB in Maths Physics & Economics, got a degree in Maths & Finance and two years later he's still unemployed

My oldest brother didn't do A-Levels or go to Uni and he earns over £30k now..

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Salman!

My brother got AAB in Maths Physics & Economics, got a degree in Maths & Finance and two years later he's still unemployed

My oldest brother didn't do A-Levels or go to Uni and he earns over £30k now..

Yup..these days, getting a job is more about luck(and who you know) than anything else.

Also, many many jobs require experience rather than qualifications. When most jobs require experience...how is anyone meant to get the experience in the first place?