As worst-case scenarios seem to be looming just around the corner when it comes to foreign exchange rates, there are a lot of investors that are opting to play safe and invest their money for safe assets. This means that they are diverting their investments away from high-yield currencies and stocks to invest more on Japanese yen and the government bonds of the United States. This created a good effect on yen as its value grew. However, there are also some currencies that suffered, such as that of New Zealand. The value of their dollar fell to its lowest market value against greenbacks.

More People Are Losing Their Jobs

There are also a lot of companies that are either bailing out or filing for bankruptcy. As a form of economic measure, they are currently cutting their expenses, such as those related to payroll. In turn, there are more Americans who are now jobless and a now making their jobless claims. The number of filers is considered to be the highest so far in the span of 16 years.

The Rise of the Yen

The gain of the yen may also be attributed to the worries that are enveloping the auto industry. The Big 3 in automotive industry in the United States have asked for financial assistance from the government in the form of bailout. However, this request was cancelled. On November 19, the value of the dollar against the yen eventually fell. However, the U.S. dollars earned a little over the euros. The shares on Wall Street also fell as many are quite uncertain on the rescue package that could have been extended to the automotive industry.

Recession to Go for a Year or More

The good news may not be long-term, though, as there are still so many people who believe that recession will not be over anytime soon. This is especially true in the United Kingdom, even if the Bank of England has already lowered down their interest rates to fight inflation.

In a survey conducted for a week, there are almost 60 percent of economists who predict that economic meltdown will last for more than a year, while the rest hope that it will be over soon, around 6 months to a year. Only 3 of them are optimistic that recovery will happen in less than half a year.

For the entire 2009, the world will still be under recession, but hopefully, countries will be able to pick up themselves slowly but surely in 2010, as inflation and interest rates are already low. There will also be stimulus packages such as that of China that will be released, which will also hasten global recovery.

In the UK, their economy had fallen down to 0.5 percent during the third quarter, after it has been stagnant for the entire second quarter. This, however, is the lowest that their economy went for the past 16 years. Economic experts believe that Great Britain will still have 5 more quarters before they will experience growth.