I think there is a lot in what Howard says there BarryW. If there was some signs of a job led recovery we could perhaps take the HMG policy of cuts. But the cuts are coming thick and fast, which currently means putting people on the dole, but the private jobs are not appearing. Its a very strange situation...a very strange policy. We stand at this point with 2.64 million people out of work, my feeling is that its likely to be in the region of 3 million in the not too distant future.
On the upside...Morrisons announced yesterday that they will be offering 25,000 new jobs ( a lot are part time) in the coming year or two. They are opening 22 new stores if memory serves me right. The often derided supermarket sector is the only area of the economy thats buoyant by the looks of it.
Of course this will flatten town centres further, but as one talking head said the other day...its time we found a new use for town centres. I dont think he was wrong
Just a word about Germany. I have heard several excellent reports on their economy lately. One in Robert Peston's BBC2 economic series, the other in this weeks Panorama and again on the radio 4 this morning. UK youth unemployment more than 20%..Germany's just 8%.
They simply have a terrific manufacturing technology side to their economics. They still build their own products Mercedes Audi BMW VW among them, but not just those excellent machines ..much more too right across the manufacturing board, and they offer apprenticeships on a wide scale. They offer education in Universities that equipe students with the technological know-how to meet the needs of their manufacturing heritage. They create their own wealth. Even apart from those big household names mentioned, they build the unseen items in the innards of all sorts of machines and household items you use today. So when other countries (here for example)were abandoning their manufacturing past, they stuck with it.
As the statistics soar in the jobs market it reminded me of what Charlie Elphicke MP said the other day in his speech at the Hospital Rally and I did use the quote on the frontpage.
he said
"you are not just a number, you are a person "
Its worthwhile for those in government to remember this when they see the job totals rise. They are not just numbers, they are real people.
