Huge jump in young jobless finding work as youth unemployment drops to 10-year low
The proportion of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) has dived to a 10-year low, official figures showed yesterday.
Just 13.3 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds were NEETs in the three months to June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, down from 15.1 per cent a year earlier.
And that is the lowest proportion since June 2004.
The absolute number of NEETs dropped by 138,000 on the year to 955,000.
And the fall in unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds accounted for most of that drop – the figure of jobseekers dived 125,000 to 460,000.
The number of economically inactive NEETs – those not in training or work and not looking for a job – dropped 12,000 to 494,000.
Most NEETs are female, with 503,000 women to 451,000 men.
However, the biggest improvements in the past year were also among female NEETs.
The number of NEET young women dropped by 81,000 on the year, while the number of men fell by 57,000.
Conservative ministers praised the figures, arguing it showed the government was improving the economy and making a difference to youth unemployment.
“Fewer young people are not in work or not getting the skills they’ll need for the future,” said Treasury minister Priti Patel.
“The number of young people not in education, employment or training is down by 184,000 since the election.”