Yes it sucks balls applying for loads of jobs and not getting much back, but there is nothing you can do but keep going.
Have you considered casting your net further afield ? There are other countries in the world which are doing better than we are economically, i believe Germany are going hard for IT and enginering at the moment, i'm in the process of after being a tit when i was younger and buggering about at uni (not that my degree would have proved to be any use anyway, but it would have helped) of applying for an apprenticeship scheme that is backed by the German government, as they are looking really hard for engineers, health workers and IT people I believe.
So look at some of the big German/US/Canadian etc firms and fire off some applications (obviously only bother if moving to another country appeals)
Have you considered casting your net further afield ? There are other countries in the world which are doing better than we are economically, i believe Germany are going hard for IT and enginering at the moment, i'm in the process of after being a tit when i was younger and buggering about at uni (not that my degree would have proved to be any use anyway, but it would have helped) of applying for an apprenticeship scheme that is backed by the German government, as they are looking really hard for engineers, health workers and IT people I believe.
So look at some of the big German/US/Canadian etc firms and fire off some applications (obviously only bother if moving to another country appeals)