You really want the view from inside the industry?
The UK job market is as bad as it's been since 9/11. With XL falling over, after Maxjet, EOS, Silverjet and Zoom, you have in excess of a couple of hundred experienced jet pilots out of work. You are now competing with them for jobs. I would be amazed if XL are the last British carrier to go bust, so I believe the situation will get worse before it gets better. The four biggest employers of pilots in the UK are B.A., Ryanair, Easyjet and Flybe. None of them are recruiting FOs in any significant numbers. The schools are still churning out CPLs and IRs, so the ratio of jobs to CVs is getting smaller and smaller.
Regarding the wider economy (which drives the airline industry), the truth is that nobody knows, but it is very difficult to be optimistic. People are fearful for their jobs, and are suffering near-record fuel prices and steep inflation in both energy and food bills. You don't need to be a genius to work out that many holiday plans will be put on hold, be they weekend breaks in Europe or two weeks in the sun. That does not bode well for air travel, especially when airlines themselves are being hit so hard by high fuel costs.
I know everyone desperately wants to hear good news, but a few people seem to be in outright denial. This is an awful time to be spending money on commercial flying training. If you are not already committed, bide your time, slow down your training or studying, and try and think in terms of finishing the IR in two or three years time.