Youth unemployment close to 1m

New figures have revealed that the number of young Britons out of work edged closer to the one million mark in the three months ending in November, sparking fresh concerns about youth unemployment.

According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), one in five people aged between 16 and 24 – a total of 951,000 – are out of a job, with overall unemployment in the period up by 49,000.

“These figures are disappointing and once again slightly worse than expected,” said British Chambers of Commerce chief economist David Kern. “Unemployment is up, employment is down and the level of inactivity has seen a marked increase.”

However, there was a fall of 4,100 in the amount of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in December, while the ONS data also showed that average earnings grew by 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to last November.

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Earlier this month, the Daily Telegraph reported that prime minister David Cameron was considering overhauling some employment laws to boost private sector activity and stimulate the creation of new jobs.

Posted by Hayley Edwards