Japans consumer prices continue to fall this month by 2.4%. This is 4 months in a row where record falls have been noted.

Deflation will continue to increase meaning less consuming spending and more debt.

The Japanese government still desperatly try and recover the situation in these hard times, however times are hard and the problem will only solve itself as time passes.

This situation has already been predicted by the Bank of Japan and if their predictions carry on to be correct will last up until March 2011.  Because of this the bank is expected to further their predictions by another year with another forecast to be released by the end of October.

Unemployment continues to rise as more and more students graduate according to sources.

With the decline in jobs and steady increase in students graduating with a 2.2 or more, competition for jobs is now more crowded than ever.

The Job Centre reports an increase of numbers going through their doors to seek employment. With less jobs to recommend and advice on the situation is getting worse with broader job seeking advice being used to get people into work.

For help with getting a job the government has set up a number of sites including the Job seekers website to get you up and running and to possibly consider starting up your own business.

The FTSE 100 stock exchange has shown some positive results following the recent successful recession leavers in other countries, such as Germany and Japan. The index finished on 4896 points,  up 45 from the opening, after briefly passing the 4900 mark during the day.

Yesterday’s good news comes after months of an upwards trend in the FTSE results, showing increasingly optimistic  outcomes for the future economy.

In related news, oil prices have also risen, finishing at around $74 yesterday, weith many market analysts predicting the prices of a barrel of oil to pass the $80 point in the near future.

Following disputes involving postal workers jobs and modernisation of the service, a number of strikes have been planned and are due to start today, Friday 7th August 2009.

This set of strikes, which is believed to be the first of several, is due to run for up to 4 days from the 7th to the 11th at varying locations throughout the UK. According to the BBC News website, the following areas are likely to be affected by delayed or unavailable services:

• Friday Birmingham vehicle operation centre; Burslem; Coventry Parcelforce Hub; Edinburgh mail centre; Essex regional distribution centre; Huntingdon; London; Northampton national distribution centre; Peterborough delivery office
• Saturday Somerset; Bristol delivery offices; Dalkeith; Edinburgh; Peterborough and Skegness
• Monday Ipswich mail centre; King’s Lynn; Stanton; Bury St Edmunds and Thetford in Norfolk
• Tuesday Stoke-on-Trent

Royal Mail claims 90% of their employees will still be working as normal , however the strikes are estimated to involve around 25,000 people. The walkouts also include Royal mail lorry and delivery drivers so it may greatly affect national services as opposed to just local ones.