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Yorkshire bucks trend as youth unemployment hits record high
YORKSHIRE has bucked the national trend as unemployment fell by 1.73% in the three months to September, official figures have shown.
The number of people out of work in the region is down by 4,000 - from 231,000 to 227,000 - according to the Office of National Statistics.
The youth unemployment rate reached a record high of almost 20%, with the number of 18 to 24-year-olds out of work up by 24,000 over the three months to 746,000, a rate of 18%, and the highest since 1992
Despite the 1.73% fall, the jobless rate in Yorkshire and the Humber is the fourth highest in England, with 8.7% of the region's workforce unemployed.
Across the UK, unemployment rose by 30,000 over the same period, taking the number of working age people without jobs to 2.46 million - the smallest rise since spring 2008.
There was a small increase of 6,000 in the number of people in work to almost 29 million, the first quarterly rise since the summer of last year. Full-time employment fell by 80,000 to 21 million, while part-time employment increased by 86,000 to a record high of 7.6 million.
The Government welcomed the increase in employment and the slower than expected rise in the jobless total, but warned "labour market difficulties" were still expected to continue for some time to come, with further rises in unemployment expected next year.
Employment Minister Jim Knight said: "When faced with the worst global recession since the 1930s, we made a decision to give jobseekers the support they need, investing 5 billion since last November in creating jobs, bringing in frontline advisers to Jobcentre Plus and expanding training and apprenticeships.
"Today's figures show that while there is still more to do, our investment is making a real difference to people's lives and ensuring that our labour market is performing well compared to other leading economies."
Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "These figures show what a dismally bleak landscape there is for the jobless and their families as Christmas approaches, particularly for the young workers struggling to get into the labour market.
"If, as seems likely, the financial elite who caused this recession and its attendant havoc resume skimming their multimillion bonuses, anger will boil over."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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