Independent UK: One in five young people out of work as jobless total hits 2.5m in Britain

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One in five young people out of work as jobless total hits 2.5m

By James Moore, Deputy Business Editor
Thursday, 20 January 2011


Unemployment in Britain has surged by 49,000 to nearly 2.5 million, including one in every five young people – putting the number of 16- to 24-year-olds out of work at close to a million, the highest since records of youth unemployment were first kept in 1992.

The rate of joblessness among 16-to 24-year-olds is now 20.3 per cent, which is two-and-a-half times therate among the population as a whole.

The reasons that young people are suffering are complex, and reflected across Europe. During recessions, employers are more able to pick and choose, so are more likely to hire trained staff who are immediately productive. Young people also face competition from inexpensive and highly qualified workers from eastern Europe, while graduates have been taking school leavers' jobs that they would not have considered a decade ago. Older people are retiring later, limiting vacancies.

Lower-skilled younger workers usually do badly in recessions, because they are the easiest to sack.

Hundreds of thousands more young people are thought to be in "hidden" unemployment, classifying themselves for example as students. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/one-in-five-young-people-out-of-work-as-jobless-total-hits-25m-2189230.html