Latest youth unemployment figures

• The number of workless young people (not in employment, full-time education or training) is 1,036,000, up 15,000 on the quarter, representing 14.3% of the youth population (up 0.2 percentage points).
• Youth unemployment (including students) is 631,000, up 6,000 on the quarter.
• There are 2.2 unemployed people per vacancy. Learning and Work Institute estimates this figure may rise next month.
• The employment rate is 74.2% (up 0.1 percentage points on last month’s published figure and up 0.1 percentage points in the preferred quarterly measure).

“Youth unemployment is showing a quarterly rise. There are still 631,000 unemployed young people, and 414,000 (5.7% of the youth population) who are unemployed and not in full-time education.

The proportion of unemployed young people (not counting students) who are not claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, and are therefore not receiving official help with job search, is now 62.6% and has risen by 23 percentage points since October 2012.

A total of 101,000 were counted as in employment while on ‘government employment and training programmes’, where the Office for National Statistics continues to count Work Programme (etc.) participants as ‘in employment’ by default. This number fell 3,000 this quarter. Self-employment rose 105,000 this quarter and remains at a historically high proportion of employment. Employee numbers rose 99,000 in the quarter. Involuntary part-time employment fell this quarter by 21,000 to 1.2 million, 14.9% of all part-time workers.The proportion remains more than double that in 2004.

Youth long-term unemployment (which can include students) has risen by 3,000 from last month’s figure and is now 181,000.