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date: 17 June 2009

embargo: For immediate release

Highest youth unemployment rate for 15 years, says TUC

Responding to the latest unemployment figures announced today (Wednesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Economists may argue about whether we are now out of recession and into recovery, but in the real world of Britain's workplaces people are still losing their jobs and finding it harder and harder to get new ones.

'Unemployment is now at its highest level since Autumn 1996 and it will take years, not months, to recover. If we are to avoid the 10 per cent unemployment rates of the 1980s and 1990s it is imperative the Government continues to invest in tackling unemployment.

'Youth unemployment is now at its highest rate for 15 years. And it will get far worse when millions of fresh school leavers and graduates start looking for work in the coming weeks.

'Unemployment leaves a permanent scar on young people's lives and Government must do all it can to stop joblessness blighting another generation's lives.

'The Government's job guarantee should soon start to help young people who lost their jobs at the start of the recession - it's exactly the right priority. But people leaving school or college this summer will need help with training and advice long before the 12 months that they will have to wait for the jobs guarantee.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- According to the latest labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds was 16.6 per cent in Feb-Apr 2009. The last time youth unemployment was above this rate was the fourth quarter of 1993 when it reached 17.5 per cent.

- In the 1990s, the unemployment rate peaked at 10.6 per cent in the first quarter of 1993. Unemployed peaked at in 11.9 per cent in the second quarter of 1984.

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Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Brenchley T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: ebrenchley@tuc.org.uk

Press release (500 words) issued 17 Jun 2009