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Government 'must tackle youth unemployment'

12/16/2011 11:14:15 AM

Rising unemployment levels among the UK's youth need to be tackled.

Such is the opinion of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which made its comments after the Office for National Statistics revealed that joblessness among 16 to 24 year olds had risen to 1.027 million - its highest level since 1992.

Overall, the UK's unemployment rate increased to 2.64 million, the highest since 1994.

Dr Neil Bentley, deputy director-general of the CBI, says: "The continued rise in youth unemployment shows why the government's new Youth Contract is so important to help young people take their first steps in the labour market."

He added that the first results will not be realised until the new year, but that by acting now it might be possible to prevent "a generation being scarred in the long term by unemployment".

Employment minister Chris Grayling has noted that although there has been an increase in the number of people out of work since the summer, these figures appear to be stabilising.

Elsewhere, the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the government to do more to assist the private sector in creating new jobs.