Foreshadow Now, ‘Season of the End Times’:
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape
Increasing Global Economic Collapse and ‘Distress of Nations with Perplexity’: UK benefits claims soar to almost 1 million in two weeks as coronavirus pandemic shuts down economy
Lina Saigol MarketWatch•April 2, 2020
Almost 1 million people in the U.K. have applied for state benefits since Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the public to stay at home, a huge spike from the 100,000 claims in a typical two-week period.
The picture is set to get bleaker for Brits as more than a quarter of businesses said they were reducing staff levels in the short term, according to an Office for National Statistics survey on Thursday.
The surge in universal credit claims highlights the deepening economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic as thousands of businesses across the country have been forced to lay off staff.
The developments in Britain echo those in America — nearly 3.3 million people filed for jobless claims in the U.S. last week, a figure that is expected to climb when this week’s numbers are published later on Thursday.
While universal credit claims don’t reflect unemployment figures, they show the number of people needing benefits, including income-based job seeker’s allowance, housing benefit and working tax credit.
The U.K.’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said late on Wednesday that 950,000 people had successfully applied for universal credit between March 16 and 31. The department typically signs off around 100,000 claims in a two-week period.
A DWP spokesman said: “With such a huge increase in claims there are pressures on our services, but the system is standing up well to these and our dedicated staff are working flat out to get people the support they need. We’re taking urgent action to boost capacity — we’ve moved 10,000 existing staff to the help on the front line and we’re recruiting more.”
The dire economic warnings kept coming as accountancy group the Corporate Finance Network said 18% of all small and midsize businesses could collapse within four weeks despite government measures. The survey of 13,000 businesses revealed the figure would jump to 31% if the lockdown lasts more than three months. In a British Chambers of Commerce poll, 62% of businesses said they had no more than three months of cash reserves left.
The U.K. employment rate hit a record high heading into the crisis, at 76.5% in the three months to January 2020. The unemployment rate in the three months to January 2020 was estimated at 3.9%, largely unchanged compared with a year earlier and 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous quarter.
Britain’s chancellor, Rishi Sunak, last week unveiled a rescue package to help self-employed workers cope with lost income, extending an unprecedented package of measures designed to help prevent the economy from spiraling into recession. The government has offered loans, grants and tax relief for businesses, as well as stepping in to pay up to 80% of the wages of those furloughed due to the virus.
On Wednesday, Business Secretary Alok Sharma warned Britain’s banks that it would be “completely unacceptable” if any of them “unfairly” refused funds to good businesses in financial difficulty.
“From today businesses will start benefiting from £22 billion in the form of business rates relief. And grants of up to £25,000 which are being paid into the bank accounts of the smallest high street firms,” Sharma said at the government’s daily press briefing on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Karl Handscomb, senior economist at think tank the Resolution Foundation, called on Sunak to expand the universal credit benefits system to support more households.
“The Chancellor has already announced a £7 billion plan to make the system more generous. The key challenge now is to encourage more people to claim Universal Credit, process those claims rapidly, and get payments out to people as soon as possible,” Handscomb said in a briefing note on Wednesday.
“Despite the hugely welcome wage and income subsidy schemes for furloughed employees and self-employed workers, a huge number of people are still going to lose their jobs and need immediate income support to avoid hardship. For these people, Universal Credit will be the key source of help,” Handscomb added.
However, the DWP said the prime minister and chancellor have “repeatedly encouraged” people to claim Universal Credit if their income has been affected, and we keep our website up-to-date with specific coronavirus information to help people.
“Urgent advances are available and more than 70,000 new claimants since 16 March have already received one. We’ve also increased the standard allowance so claimants will be up to £1,040 a year better off.”
On Monday, April 6, Universal Credit payments will rise by £1,040 a year as a result of an increase in the standard allowance due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the DWP said
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape
(Night Watchman Note: What will happen when millions of Christians suddenly ‘disappear’ in the ‘twinkling of an eye”??? Those who may be first-responders, doctors, nurses, support staff, policemen, firefighters, homeless volunteers, those in the red cross or other emergency aid and relief organizations, in the national guard or military, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc. You get the picture.)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:
The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)
A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.
. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).
B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.
. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).
C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).
. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).
. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).
. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).
. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).
. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).
. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).
. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).
. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).
True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:
Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Categories: Economic Collapse