Looking for a job

Looking for a new job is full-time work in itself, as competition between job seekers for the scant amount of jobs on offer, is fierce. The latest figures show that unemployment rose in February and March and now stands at 8%, or 2.5 million people. This makes it more important to stand out from the crowd to get the position you really want.

However, an issue that is masked by general unemployment figures is that of part-time employment. According to the Office of National Statistics' latest finding, the number of self-employed and part-time workers increased by 13,000 in the first quarter of 2010 to reach 1.05 million, the highest figure since records began in 1992. This is as a direct result of lack of full-time employment positions, redundancies and pay freezes.

Most people are turning to the service sector, where casual, flexible, shift and part-time work is most prevalent and easy to come by. However, two jobs puts enormous pressure on you and although the financial benefits are obvious, the stresses and strains are often not worth the extra cash.

So what are your options? Not that you should be encouraged to get into debt, but a loan might be the best solution. The inflation rate has now risen to 3.4% and making any money through saving is becoming increasingly difficult. However, the Bank of England's rate of interest is at an all-time low of only 0.5%. This means good news for borrowers.

The rate has been kept low to encourage spending, and ease pressure on mortgage holders. It is also supposed to help reduce inflation, but seeing as that's not really working due to other economic factors, you might as well take on a loan now that interest rates are so low.

Although you won't find rates even close to the Bank of England's rate, as banks are a little more cautious about lending willy nilly these days, unsurprisingly, you can find some pretty attractive deals right on the high street.

Alliance & Leicester (part of the Santander Group) currently offer one of the best loans on the high-street. The rate is 8.9% APR on loans from £7,500 to £14,950. This beats all the other competition quite easily with HSBC offering 9.9% and Natwest a rather dismal 12.9%.