Signs of a recession: AC/DC, pizza and secondhand wedding dresses

Forget negative growth in economic output and unemployment and repossession figures - you know times are hard when these things happen:

1. AC/DC are topping the charts. The last time the Aussie rockers made No 1 in Britain, 28 years ago, the country was on the brink of recession. The Guardian jests that the triumph of the band's Black Ice album could be the "final and irrevocable proof" that we are entering tough economic times.

Other unofficial indicators of the economic slowdown have already been making the news.