Youth unemployment highest for over seventeen
years
More than a million young people are
unemployed, the highest number since the conservatives were last in
power according to government figures to be published this
week.
This summer saw an influx of 77,000 18 – 24
year-olds join the 2.51 million already unemployed. The total
unemployed within this age range, now totals 973,000. Yet the
new figures to be published that will take into account the last
three months are expected to be even worse.
Howard Archer of consultancy IHS Global
insight said this week’s figures were likely to show a 90,000
increase, which would push the total figure to 2.6
million, and be at its highest peak in 17 years. This
would also take the total number of young people unemployed to 1
million. This is bad news for graduates who are also seeing tuition
fee increases even though there is a lack of graduate jobs
available to them. Archer commented that “The worry is that, having
shown impressive resilience earlier this year, the labour market is
increasingly buckling under serious pressure from weak economic
activity.”
Many experts also expect to see these numbers
increase entering into 2012 as fears of a double dip still loom.
Madhur Jha, a global economist at HSBC, said: "We expect
unemployment to continue to rise over the latter months of 2011 and
the first half of 2012. We believe that the fundamental trend for
the UK labour market has been one of renewed weakness."
The newly appointed shadow chief secretary
called on the government to have more urgency about jobs growth. She said
that the government refuses to look at a plan B for jobs and growth
and believes the problem will only get worse as many school leavers
and graduates are becoming a lost generation.
Graduates are worried that they graduate from
university ladened with debt but are expected to work for free in
internships or work experience programmes because employers are
believed to be exploiting the high amount of graduates that are
unemployed.
Ben Lyons of Intern Aware is part of a
campaign helping young people to be paid fairly, he said that
"Corporations are finding it easier than ever to exploit
desperation and aspiration to get labour for free," he said. "It is
wrong for people to have to work for free, and it is wrong that the
only people who can do this work are those with savings or sources
of money of their own. It is wrong and it is stupid because
employers are restricting the market of people from which they
choose their employees. Things need to change."
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