Knowledge Centre
16th September 2009
Unemployment has risen close to the 2.5 million mark, according to official figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The number of UK jobless swelled by 210,000 in the three months to July, taking to 2.47 million the total of those out of work.
The figure represents an unemployment rate of 7.9%, and means that almost three-quarters of a million more people are unemployed than at the same time last year.
And the situation is particularly bad for the youngest jobseekers. Sixteen-to-24 year-olds now account for 947,000 of those out of work - up from 928,000 in June. The figure now stands at its highest since the ONS began compiling statistics for the age group in 1992.
With almost one in five 16-to-24-year-olds now unemployed, business groups have described a need to act before we "lose a generation of young people".
The CBI is calling for a minimum wage for new apprentices to be incorporated into the National Minimum Wage (NMW), but for it to be set at a "cautious level" to increase the attractiveness of training schemes to employers.
It believes that the £95 minimum weekly payment - which came in at the start of August and is guaranteed by the Learning and Skills Council - should not change if apprentices are brought within the NMW.
Katja Hall, CBI director of employment policy, said: "Young people must not be priced out of apprenticeships in a difficult jobs market.
"If apprentices join the national minimum wage system they must do so at the right level and in a way that employers can understand.
"Otherwise firms will simply reduce their apprenticeship intake in a bid to survive the recession and protect other jobs."
IMAGE Clare Marsh/John Birdsall/Press Association Images
Youngest hit hard as unemployment nears 2.5 million
The number of UK jobless swelled by 210,000 in the three months to July, taking to 2.47 million the total of those out of work.
The figure represents an unemployment rate of 7.9%, and means that almost three-quarters of a million more people are unemployed than at the same time last year.
And the situation is particularly bad for the youngest jobseekers. Sixteen-to-24 year-olds now account for 947,000 of those out of work - up from 928,000 in June. The figure now stands at its highest since the ONS began compiling statistics for the age group in 1992.
With almost one in five 16-to-24-year-olds now unemployed, business groups have described a need to act before we "lose a generation of young people".
The CBI is calling for a minimum wage for new apprentices to be incorporated into the National Minimum Wage (NMW), but for it to be set at a "cautious level" to increase the attractiveness of training schemes to employers.
It believes that the £95 minimum weekly payment - which came in at the start of August and is guaranteed by the Learning and Skills Council - should not change if apprentices are brought within the NMW.
Katja Hall, CBI director of employment policy, said: "Young people must not be priced out of apprenticeships in a difficult jobs market.
"If apprentices join the national minimum wage system they must do so at the right level and in a way that employers can understand.
"Otherwise firms will simply reduce their apprenticeship intake in a bid to survive the recession and protect other jobs."
IMAGE Clare Marsh/John Birdsall/Press Association Images
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