The latest employment statistics released by the Office for National Statistics today (13 October 2020) show the unemployment in the UK grew to 4.5% in the three months to August. Of the 500,000 fall in the number of people employed, 60% are aged 16-24 years. This shows a growing trend that young people are bearing the brunt of unemployment.
Chief Executive of Youth Futures Foundation, Anna Smee, commented:
“Today’s statistics confirm the continuing trend that young people are bearing the brunt of the impact of the pandemic on the economy. Of the 500,000 fall in the number of employed, 60% are aged 16-24 years and there has been a record number of 119,000 redundancies amongst those aged 18-24 years.
“This is a call to action for employers to step forward where they can, with support from Government initiatives like Kickstart, and offer young people job opportunities today to avoid the long-term scarring effects of unemployment. High youth workless levels will erode skills and create a multi-billion pound hole in our economy if left unchecked.”
