Youth unemployment hits new record

Unemployment jumped by 44,000 in the final three months of 2010 to just under 2.5 million, a jobless rate of 7.9%. In Yorkshire the figure is much higher, at 9.3%

But the youth unemployment rate is now 20.5% following a 66,000 increase to 965,000, the highest figures since records began in 1992.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance increased by 2,400 in January to 1.46 million, with the number of female claimants rising for the seventh month in a row to reach almost 450,000, the highest figure since 1996.

The number of people working part-time because they could not find full-time jobs increased by 44,000 to 1.19 million, the highest total since records began in 1992.

The number of people classed as economically inactive rose by 93,000 over the latest quarter to 9.36 million, a rate of 23.4%, including 1.57 million who retired before the age of 65, the highest figure since records began in 1993.

There was a 68,000 fall in employment, down to 29.12 million, according to today’s data from the Office for National Statistics.

Public sector employment fell by 33,000 to six million in the quarter to September, while the number of people in private firms was unchanged at 23.1 million.

The number of jobs fell by 170,000 in the year to last September to 30 million.

Long-term unemployment is getting worse, with an increase of 17,000 in the number of people out of work for over a year, to 833,000.

Average earnings increased by 1.8% in the year to December, down by 0.3% on the previous month, giving average weekly pay of £430.

Ministers said they welcomed news that the labour market was “stabilising” after a “difficult” last few months, pointing out that there has been a sharp jump in the number of vacancies to half a million across the country, the highest in two years.

The Government said it reaffirmed its commitment to tackling the youth unemployment problem it inherited, including helping the 600,000 young people who have never held down a job since leaving school or college.

Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling said: “It’s been a difficult few months in the labour market but things do now seem to be stabilising. The rise in the number of vacancies is particularly encouraging.

“The challenge for us now is to push ahead with our welfare reforms as quickly as possible so we start to move more people off benefits to take advantage of those vacancies.”

The Government said its new Work Programme is gaining momentum, with more than 170 tenders submitted from 30 organisations from private, public and voluntary sector organisations.

The programme will be in place by the summer and will offer personalised, tailored support to get people back into jobs.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: “This rise is no surprise since the Government itself, with the vocal support of the bankers who caused the recession, is deliberately creating unemployment with public sector cuts.

“Tens of thousands of council workers who volunteered for redundancy have already left and have joined the unemployed register. This is on top of the tens of thousands of vacant jobs in local councils that have already been scrapped.

“So far GMB has logged over 162,000 direct job losses in the pipeline in 290 councils with more to come.

“That figure does not include job losses in the related voluntary and private sectors due to cuts in public funds or job cuts in other parts of the public sector.”

Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director of recruitment firm Adecco, said: “There is still an imbalance between the number of new roles becoming available and the high proportion of people seeking employment.

“Until this has been properly addressed, the pain felt among today’s jobseekers will remain - a trend which only looks set to worsen as further job losses in the public sector loom.

“While the steady stream of good-quality candidates remains, allowing employers to benefit from a wide pool of strong, available talent, this does little to improve overall employment figures.”

John Salt, director at recruitment firm totaljobs.com, said: “The latest unemployment figures make grim reading, particularly in terms of youth and female unemployment.

“With the private sector - hit by increased costs, timid consumer demand and suffering a lack of confidence - unable or unwilling to create the number of permanent jobs to offset the cuts in local authorities, I think we’ll continue to see rises in unemployment throughout the year, before the confidence and economy improves later in 2011.”