Youth jobless 'jumps 25% in two years'

Coalition policies have caused shocking 50 per cent increases in the number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work for longer than six months in some regions, a TUC report found.

The north-west is the worst-hit part of England with a 53 per cent increase in long-term youth unemployment, followed by the east at 40 per cent and Yorkshire and the Humber at 29 per cent.

Despite the massive increase in long-term youth unemployment, government support for the age group has fallen by 26 per cent, the TUC said.

It said the government will spend almost £100 million less this year on support for young people claiming jobseeker's allowance in England than was provided under the last Labour government's Youth Guarantee, which included the Future Jobs Fund.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber (pictured) said: "With such sharp cuts in support for young unemployed people, it's no surprise that the government is failing to get to grips with this urgent problem.

"It is deeply concerning that many of the areas hit hardest by unemployment are seeing such a steep drop in financial support for jobless youngsters.

"Long-term youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb under the nation's finances, with severe consequences not just for young people but also for their communities and the country's wider economic prospects.

"This crisis simply cannot be tackled on the cheap. These cuts are a false economy - failing to act now will cost us all in the longer-term."

The report was published in the run-up to Wednesday's release of new unemployment figures by the Office for National Statistics and the TUC and STUC marches For A Future That Works in London and Glasgow on Saturday.