After the publication of employment, or unemployment figures for 2009, the Government now says that a figure of 20% is not out of the question during 2010.
The general expectation appears to be for unemployment to continue to rise slightly during the first two quarters of 2010, with a ‘small’ number of jobs falling by the wayside, and then the achievement of a ‘neutral’ result by the end of the year.
It is still all speculation, though, and the proverbial ‘man in the street’ – if such a phrase is still allowed – is unlikely to see much of an improvement, if any, for some time to come.