UK Youth Unemployment
Friday 28th January
2011
WALES
TOPS UK LEAGUE FOR YOUTH
UNEMPLOYMENT WITH 33% OF UNEMPLOYED CLAIMANTS AGED BETWEEN
18-24
Young workers are the real
economic victims of this banker's recession with the government in
denial that it is deliberately causing unemployment, says
GMB
Wales tops the UK league as the region
with the highest percentage of 18-24 year old unemployed claimants
as a proportion of all claimants. In December 2010 in Wales there
were 23,150 claimants aged 18-24 which is 33% of the 70,065 total
claimants in the area. Next in the national league was the North
East region where 30.8% of claimants were aged 18-24. Next came
Northern Ireland (30.6%), followed by East Midlands (30.2%), North
West (29.6%), Yorkshire and Humber and West Midlands (29.4%) and
South West (28.1%).
For the UK as a whole there were
1,420,125 claimants of all ages in December 2010. Of these 398,390
claimants were aged 18-24 which was 28.1% of all claimants.
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff topped the UK
league as the area with the highest rate of youth unemployment for
claimants aged between 18-24 with 37.4%. See notes to editors for
the top 20 areas in the UK.
These figures are from a new analysis
by GMB of the official unemployed claimant count figures for
December 2010 from the Office for National Statistics. Set out in
the table below are the figures for all 12 regions and the UK
figures. The figures are ranked by the areas with the highest
percentage of 18-24 unemployed claimants. See notes to editors for
sources and definitions. Please note that the figures are for the
unemployed claimant count. The figures for the total number of
unemployed are higher and the reasons are set out in notes to
editors below.
Claimant count for 12 regions in the
UK ranked by regions with the highest percentage of young
claimants
|
|
|
Claimants all
ages
|
Claimants aged
18-24
|
Youth claimants as percent of
total claimants
|
|
|
National
|
number
|
number
|
percent
|
|
|
UK
|
1,420.125
|
398,390
|
28.1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
Wales
|
70,065
|
23,150
|
33.0
|
|
2
|
North East
|
78,670
|
24,215
|
30.8
|
|
3
|
Northern Ireland
|
56,435
|
17,265
|
30.6
|
|
4
|
East Midlands
|
93,840
|
28,330
|
30.2
|
|
5
|
North West
|
172,535
|
51,115
|
29.6
|
|
6
|
Yorkshire and The Humber
|
141,405
|
41,610
|
29.4
|
|
7
|
West Midlands
|
152,675
|
44,825
|
29.4
|
|
8
|
South West
|
79,145
|
22,260
|
28.1
|
|
9
|
Scotland
|
135,315
|
36,850
|
27.2
|
|
10
|
East
|
103,490
|
27,810
|
26.9
|
|
11
|
South East
|
127,445
|
33,360
|
26.2
|
|
12
|
London
|
209,100
|
47,605
|
22.8
|
Paul Kenny, GMB National Secretary
said, "In the UKthere are
nearly 400,000 young workers aged 18-24 claiming jobseeker's
allowance. When you add to that number the rest of the young people
not in jobs but seeking work the real number is more than double
that figure. In the UKas a whole
the number of young workers aged under 24 seeking work is nearly a
million.
Young workers are the real
economic victims of this banker's recession. The government is in
denial that it is deliberately creating unemployment. This week GMB
listed that 140,456 posts are under threat in local authorities
across the UKand these posts are
being deleted by vacancies not being filled and by voluntary
redundancy. (See note 3 below for regional list)
Bob Neil the local government
minister's response to the job losses was to accuse the GMB of
scaremongering. Mr Neil knows that his government is cutting
hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs and they are trying to
do it in the dark. Vacancies that are not filled are jobs that are
not available to the young workers in the
UKwho are seeking work. Mr Neil should be
in the Ministry for Propaganda rather than in the local government
department.
GMB is mobilising to get a
large contingent of young workers from the whole of the to
the TUCdemonstration in
Londonon March 26th. GMB is
also mobilising to get a high turn out at the local elections in
May to send a clear message to the government that it is not
possible to deflate your way to growth and a
balanced budget."
End
Contact: Kamaljeet
Jandu, GMB Equality and Inclusion National Officer on 07852 330876
or Paul McCarthy, GMB Regional Secretary 07740 804 040 or GMB Press
Office – 07974 251 823 or 07921 289 880
Notes to Editors
1.
Unemployment and the claimant count
are both important measures of spare labour capacity in the UK
economy.
However, they each record subtly
different aspects of the non–utilisation of labour. Unemployment
estimates are based on a person's self–classification as being 'out
of work, but 'currently and actively seeking to work' in the Labour
Force Survey (LFS), while the claimant count is a count of the
number of people who claim unemployment related benefits (the
majority of whom claim Jobseeker's allowance (JSA)). The claimant
data in this release in from the ONS and is for December 2010.
Differences between the claimant count
and unemployment estimates can occur because it is possible to be
unemployed, but not claim JSA:
■ people who are unemployed may not be
eligible to claim – to be eligible for contribution based JSA they
must have made a minimum National Insurance contribution across the
previous two years. To be eligible for income based (means tested)
JSA they should not receive more than a particular level of
income
■ full–time study can make someone
ineligible for JSA – but they can be classified as unemployed
■ some people may be unemployed, but
claiming an out–of–work benefit other than JSA
The number of 18-24 year old claimants
in the UK is 398,390 or 28.1% of the total. The Sep-Nov 2010 figure
for unemployed aged 18-24 is 755,000. When you include the 16 and
17 year olds looking for work the total for 16-24 year olds is
977,000.
2.
Claimant count by country and region
ranked by country/region with the highest percentage of young
claimants. See GMB website for full list.
|
1
|
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff
|
6,515
|
2,435
|
37.4
|
|
2
|
Caerphilly
|
5,140
|
1,865
|
36.3
|
|
3
|
Torfaen
|
2,420
|
870
|
35.9
|
|
4
|
Ceredigion
|
945
|
330
|
35.1
|
|
5
|
County Durham
|
12,550
|
4,395
|
35.0
|
|
6
|
Barnsley
|
6,505
|
2,270
|
34.9
|
|
7
|
Carmarthenshire
|
3,185
|
1,105
|
34.7
|
|
8
|
Denbighshire
|
2,210
|
760
|
34.5
|
|
9
|
Blaenau Gwent
|
2,800
|
965
|
34.5
|
|
10
|
Solihull
|
4,405
|
1,505
|
34.1
|
|
11
|
Plymouth
|
5,865
|
1,975
|
33.7
|
|
12
|
Bridgend
|
3,355
|
1,120
|
33.4
|
|
13
|
Orkney Islands
|
195
|
65
|
33.3
|
|
14
|
Flintshire
|
2,930
|
970
|
33.2
|
|
15
|
Merthyr Tydfil
|
1,935
|
645
|
33.2
|
|
16
|
The Vale of Glamorgan
|
2,880
|
955
|
33.1
|
|
17
|
Neath Port Talbot
|
2,660
|
875
|
33.0
|
|
18
|
Newport
|
4,390
|
1,440
|
32.9
|
|
19
|
Larne
|
755
|
250
|
32.8
|
|
20
|
Nottinghamshire
|
14,500
|
4,730
|
32.6
|
3.
Posts under threat as of
24th January 2011 in the UK
|
North East total
|
9,164
|
|
|
|
North West total
|
25,945
|
|
|
Yorkshire & The Humber total
|
16,846
|
|
East Midlands total
|
10,304
|
|
|
West Midlands total
|
20,746
|
|
|
|
Eastern total
|
9,473
|
|
|
London total
|
13,829
|
|
|
South East total
|
12,530
|
|
|
South West total
|
10,808
|
|
|
Wales total
|
1,170
|
|
|
Scotland total
|
9,641
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National total
|
140,456
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full table
of figures
Related release for the East of
England
Related release for the East
Midlands
Related release for
London
Related release for the North
East
Related release for Northern
Ireland
Related release for the North
West
Related release for
Scotland
Related release for the South
East
Related release for the South
West
Related release for
Wales
Related release for Yorshire &
The Humber