One vacancy for every 10 people

According to the Trades Union Congress there are 10 people for every job vacancy in the UK. This is just an average figure as in some parts of the country, for example in the South-East region of England, there are 60 people looking for the same job. The situation seems desperate as the UK faces the highest unemployment rate since 1998. 

Current unemployment rate indicates that there are 2 million people looking for a job in Britain. The Office for National Statistics will publish more detailed information on the matter this week. Brendan Barber, general secretary of TUC, said that these figures “blow out of the water the government's claim that there are plenty of jobs available for people who are prepared to look". 

Unfortunately, the problem is not over. The British Chambers of Commerce expects the number to jump to 3.2 million by the second half of the year. The director of BCC said that governments should do more so as to help firms struggling with the situation. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7945426.stm

Iraq awaits foreign military troops’ withdrawal

Soon British as well as US military troops will leave the country to let the local government run its own affairs. David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, told BBC that the Iraqi government was getting more and more impatient as they were awaiting this decision to be made. Well, even if they are impatient they have to calm down as the US troops’ withdrawal will only happen in August 2010. 

Even though current US President Barack Obama is to announce the withdrawal plan to the public, many say that the US government will leave several platoons – approximately 50,000 soldiers – behind. British soldiers will leave earlier – none will remain in the country by the end of May this year. Mr Miliband also told BBC that the situation seemed to be more sustainable now than it had been before. Finally the government can start looking into the matters of economy and public services. He firmly believes that the more time passes the more confident the government and the citizens will be. 

By announcing the establishment of a 400 million dollars worth joint venture, Mr Miliband told the world that the country was ready for business. The would-be company will carry out drilling activities to find more oil. British forces in the country amount to thousands of soldiers of whom hundreds have died so far. The number of the US troops is enormous with its almost 150,000 soldiers. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7914291.stm