Week 15, 2011: UK Youth Unemployment

Summary: Employment figures released this week showed that the unemployment rate fell very slightly over the three months to February 2011. Unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds is still a major issue, however, and has been for decades.

What does the chart show? The unemployment rate measures the percentage of people who are currently out of work and are actively seeking employment compared to the total number of "economically active" people. The blue line shows this number for everyone aged 16 and over. The red line shows the unemployment rate for everyone aged between 16 and 24 who is not currently in full time education. The international standard is to include people in full time education if they are available to work but are unable to find employment, but this figure can be deceptive.

Why is the chart interesting? While it is good news that total unemployment has dropped, even if only by 0.1% on the previous quarter, it is still quite high, and unemployment among young people is a major problem.

The unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds has been at least 6% higher than the total unemployment rate for the whole period covered above, but this gap grew during the recession of 2008 to the point where the difference now is over 10%. Clearly, youth unemployment is something that needs to be dealt with in the UK.