Youth unemployment 'crisis' warning

Union leaders raised fears of a new 'crisis' in youth unemployment
12 April 2012

Union leaders have raised fears of a new "crisis" in youth unemployment, with job prospects looking bleak for under 24-year-olds.

The TUC said young people were chasing a declining number of jobs, with five unemployed people of all ages now fighting for every vacancy.

Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds has risen to 728,000 and the TUC said it will be "extremely concerned" if the number increases when new unemployment figures are published.

The level increased for two months in a row after peaking at 749,000 a year ago, said the TUC, adding that it was worried about the number of jobs unlikely to be available to young people such as skilled or specialist vacancies.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The figures will be a key indication of whether young people are facing a new jobs crisis.

"While recent months have seen some welcome falls in overall unemployment levels, thousands of young workers across the UK are joining the dole queues every month and that is a real cause for concern.

"At the moment, it appears there are simply not enough jobs for young people to do. It is therefore particularly alarming that the Government has cut funding for the Future Jobs Fund, which would have provided an additional 90,000 positions for unemployed young people across the country.

"For every person struggling to get work, this recession remains a personal tragedy, and with the Government pressing ahead with deep spending cuts which will choke off growth, unemployment is set to rise again."

Unemployment fell by 8,000 in the three months to July to 2.47 million, while the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in August increased by 2,300 to 1.47 million, the first rise since January.

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