One in five young people out of work

Published on Wednesday 11 November 2009 21:47

THE recession has left one in five young people in Britain without a job, according to new unemployment figures.

The UK government was accused of failing young people after it was disclosed that the number of 16– to 24-year-olds without work now stood at a record high of 943,000.

The figure has been swollen by large numbers of university leavers who cannot find a job, with nearly 8 per cent of graduates under the age of 25 unemployed.

Gordon Brown faced tough questions from the Tory leader, David Cameron, over youth unemployment yesterday, as it threatened to become a major election issue.

In the three months up to September, the number of unemployed youths had risen by 15,000, meaning that 19.8 per cent of those aged 16-24 are jobless.

In Scotland, the rate of youth unemployment was not as severe as in the UK as a whole. Nevertheless, it had risen from 37,000 out of work this time last year to 56,000 – a jump from 9.8 per cent to 15.4 per cent in September this year.

Despite the dramatic increase in Scottish youth unemployment over the past 12 months, a glimmer of hope was offered by the fact that there had been a recent fall in the number of youngsters signing on for Jobseeker's Allowance.

A total of 37,300 people aged between 18 and 24 were claiming Jobseekers' Allowance in October, about 600 fewer than in the previous month.

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics yesterday, UK unemployment had risen by 30,000 to 2.46 million in the most recent quarter. The 30,000 hike in the three months to September was the smallest rise since May last year. Even when the increase in youth unemployment was taken into account, the overall unemployment rate rose only marginally, from 7.7 per cent to 7.8 per cent.

The UK rise was also reflected in the so-called claimant count statistics. Those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance rose by 12,900 to 1.64 million.

In Scotland, the picture was similarly bleak, with the number of people out of work north of the Border approaching the 200,000 mark.

The jobless total increased by 4,000 to 194,000 in the past three months, meaning that unemployment is now 67,000 higher than it was this time last year.

Those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Scotland went up by 2,200 in the past month to 134,800 and is nearly 47,000 more than a year ago.

The Scottish jobless rate stood at 7.2 per cent – an increase of 2.5 percentage points on the same period a year ago.

Enterprise minister Jim Mather said the Scottish Government's recovery plan was supporting 15,000 jobs and helping those who had lost jobs to get back into work.

"Our draft budget for 2010-11 delivers yet more support for employment," he said. "And with growing support across the parliament, we are urging the Chancellor to use his Pre-Budget Report to let us to build on the positive results of accelerating capital spending into this year."

The rising levels of youth unemployment dominated Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons yesterday.

Mr Cameron said: "Today, the youth unemployment rate has reached a record high in our country. Almost one million young people – that is one in five – cannot find work.

"You once promised to abolish youth unemployment. Do you accept that you've failed?"

Gordon Brown retorted that he was "pleased" to discuss employment opportunities for young people, saying his government had introduced the school leaver's guarantee – designed to keep young people in education after the age of 16.

"That has meant that tens of thousands of young people are now able to be in training, education or work, where otherwise they would be unemployed," the Prime Minister said, adding:

"No government in Europe is doing more to help young people out of work."

The Tory leader hit back, saying Mr Brown was "living in a parallel universe".

He said: "You talk about other European countries. The whole of Germany has 537,000 young people unemployed; France 765,000. We have 943,000."

The ONS figures also revealed that the number of people classed as economically inactive, including those on long-term sick leave, looking after a relative, or who have given up looking for work, reached a record high of eight million after a 41,000 increase over the latest quarter.

The inactivity rate is now more than 21 per cent of the working-age population.