Youth bear brunt of recession

The number of young people out of work has risen by 15,000, reaching a total of 943,000, the latest figures show. In the past year, job losses among young people have risen faster than within other sections of the working population.

The rate of unemployment among young people for the three months to September is 18%, the highest since records began in this category in 1992.

October 2008 % of 18-24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months, by parliamentary constituency: October 2008
January 2009 % of 18-24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months, by parliamentary constituency: January 2009
April 2009 % of 18-24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months, by parliamentary constituency: April 2009
July 2009 % of 18-24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months, by parliamentary constituency: July 2009
October 2009 % of 18-24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months, by parliamentary constituency: October 2009

The maps show how the number of young people looking for work over the past year has increased.

The figures shown are the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds who have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months. They are updated month-on-month, while unemployment figures assess quarterly changes.

The numbers claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months rose from just under 40,000 in October last year, to 103,400 in October 2009.

Claimant count figures are lower than unemployment figures because they count only those people who are out of work and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.

So, if a person is out of work and looking for a job but not claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for any reason (for example they may not want to, or they may not be eligible to claim it), they will appear in the figure for unemployment, but not the figure for claimant count.

The figures used on the maps are not seasonally adjusted, so, for example, people taking on Christmas jobs will be reflected in a drop in the claimant count at the beginning of the year.

Since January, the numbers of young claimants have steadily risen.

Areas which have been particularly badly hit include those parts of the country where unemployment has traditionally been a problem for all age groups, such as north and south Wales, Northern Ireland, and urban areas including Liverpool and Birmingham.

In October 2008, Belfast West had the highest percentage of claimants aged between 18 and 24, at 10.9%. In October 2009, Blaenau Gwent recorded the highest unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds of 13.5%.

Some experts had expected youth unemployment to reach one million in October. The government will be hoping the slowdown in the rise in unemployment means that milestone will not now be reached.