Youth unemployment figures

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the latest unemployment figures, which show that in the three months to March 2013, there were 958,000 unemployed 16 to 24 years olds, down 17,000 from the previous quarter.

The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 20.7%, down 0.1 percent from the previous quarter. The number of 16 to 24 years olds unemployed for over a year fell to 274,000 (from 277,000) and the number unemployed for over two years fell to 99,000 (from 102,000).

The ONS has also announced that on 23 May it will publish the first edition of a new release showing estimates of young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

The release will, for the first time, provide estimates of young people who are NEET for the United Kingdom broken down by those who are unemployed and those who are economically inactive.

For further information visit www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2013/statistical-bulletin.html#tab-Young-people-in-the-labour-market.

In addition, the TUC has published analysis that looks at employment rates and changes in the likelihood of being in work over the last five years, which found that young people aged 18 to 24 are 10 percent less likely to be in work today compared to the eve of the recession in February 2008.

This is the sharpest decline in job prospects across all age groups. The analysis also states that only 58 percent of 18 to 24 year olds found work in 2013, compared with almost 65% in 2009, so it would take another 395,000 jobs to take young people's employment rates back to pre-recession levels.

For further information visit www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-22207-f0.cfm.