Worrying number of city youngsters are unemployed

A HUGE huge disparity has emerged in the number of young people being employed across the UK’s regions and cities with Manchester and Liverpool identified as having the highest rates of youth unemployment in the North West.

A report published today by EY in association with the YET Foundation – an independent UK charity – says youth unemployment in Manchester is 22.8% and Liverpool 22.1%.

The issue could have an impact on both the region and wider UK’s aspiration to achieve “inclusive growth”, particularly at a time when the UK’s future supply of labour and skills is at the forefront of many employers’ minds after the Brexit vote in June.

The report revealed the North West has a youth unemployment rate of 13.9%. The East of England has the lowest level of youth unemployment at 11.2%, whereas the North East had the highest rate at 18.3%.

While the variations in youth unemployment between regions are significant, they are far exceeded by those between the UK’s cities.
 
In every region, the majority of cities for which data is available had youth unemployment rates higher than their regional average.
 
In the North West, Wigan with 10.9% was the only town of the five analysed that had a youth unemployment rate below the North West average of 13.9%.

Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool (19.9%) were all higher than both the regional average and the national average.
 
In Bolton, although the rate was not as high as in the larger cities there has been a major increase in the percentage of young people unemployed over the past decade. In 2004, Bolton had a youth unemployment rate of 10.2%, which rose to 18.4% in 2015.

Across the UK, the report revealed an excess in the unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds.

Between March and May 2016, youth unemployment rates were 28.7% for 16 to17 year olds and 11.6% for 18-24 year olds in the UK.
 
In 2015, the proportion of the population in the North West aged 18 to 24 and in full-time education (29.5%) was the third lowest amongst the regions.

Simon Allport, senior partner at EY in the North West, said: “Youth unemployment rates have fallen from the peaks we saw during the recession, when 40% of the UK’s 16-17 year olds were facing unemployment.
 
“However, a stubbornly high number of young people remain excluded from the labour market, which could be further exacerbated by a period of weaker economic growth in a Brexit environment.

“Looking at the North West what stands out is that the region as a whole is improving but the major cities are still reporting much higher youth unemployment rates than the average.

“These regional differences underline the importance of a coordinated response from Government and business to tackle the issues locally. This could potentially be accompanied by more devolution of skills and education to the Northern Powerhouse.”