Youth unemployment increases in 97% of the UK in the last year

08 Nov 2011, by Anjum Klair in Labour market

With the prospect of youth unemployment hitting the one million mark when the Office for National Statistics releases the latest figures next week TUC analysis published today shows that youth claimant unemployment has increased in 97% of local authority areas in the UK in the last 12 months. The analysis reveals that the number of young people aged between 18 and 24 unable to find work in the UK has increased in 196 of 202 local authorities since September 2010.

The only six UK local authorities where youth unemployment has stalled in the last year are Hillingdon, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, Reading and – the only authority not in the south east – Warwickshire. Everywhere else has witnessed an increase, by an average of 1.2 percentage points.

The local authority areas with the biggest rises in the number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance between September 2010 and September 2011 include Hartlepool (3.5 percentage point increase), Darlington (3.2), Waltham Forest (3), Sandwell (2.9), and Doncaster, Torbay and Blackpool (all 2.7).

The analysis also reveals the extent to which youth unemployment worsened during the recession. From September 2007 to September 2011, the number of young people unable to find work at least doubled in a third of local authorities (32%).

The worse hit authorities over the last three years are Clackmannanshire (7.5 percentage point increase since September 2007), Doncaster (7.4), Hartlepool (7.1), Rotherham (6.9), Rochdale and Redcar and Cleveland (both 6.8).

Local authorities where youth unemployment has increased most over the last year (Sept 2010–Sept 2011)

Local authorities where youth unemployment has increased most since the start of the recession (Sept 2007–Sept 2011)

Source: nomisweb

The figures are based on UK claimant count, and the full TUC analysis is available as an Excel spreadsheet

This analysis also shows:

• The top 10 and bottom 10 youth unemployment rates for August 2007, 2010, 2011.
• A regional breakdown of youth unemployment in September 2011 – this has the top 5 rates by region and it also has the bottom 2 per region. For London this has the top 10 and bottom 5 rates.
• The difference between the national and youth unemployment rates in September 2011.
• The male and female top 10 and bottom youth unemployment rates for September 2011.

(And please note that the analysis does not use data for the City of London, the Isles of Scilly, the Shetland Isles and the Orkney Isles as the small size of these areas limits the scope of meaningful analysis. Northern Ireland has also been excluded.)