Help, support and investement to get people back into work must continue, said Employment Minister Jim Knight, as new figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment is rising at a slower rate, following the extra help the Government has brought in.
The number of people on Jobseeker's Allowance has gone up by 24,400 to 1.607 million. Around 70% of claimants are leaving Jobseeker's Allowance within 6 months. The number of people who are ILO unemployed has risen by 210,000 on the quarter to July 2009, which is 20,000 less than the increase in the previous quarter.
The Government has made clear that help for young people to get into work must increase as part of the Backing Young Britain campaign. The claimant count for 18 to 24 year olds has risen by 9,500 in the last month to 483,200, a lower increase than in the previous month. The majority of young people are still finding work or training to go to and over 50% of young people are leaving the claimant count within three months and over 70% within six months. However the Government is determined to deliver help for all young people. The wider ILO unemployment figure which includes 16 and 17 year olds as well as 261,000 people in full time education has gone up by 59,000 over the last three months. This increase includes an additional 34,000 16-17 year olds who are in full time education.
Employment Minister Jim Knight said: "These figures show that families across Britain are still being affected by the world recession and make clear how important it is to keep up the investment to get people back into work. The actions we have taken in recent months are starting to pay off. The number of people who have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for up to six months has been declining in recent months, and around 70% of claimants are leaving benefit within that time.
This week's OECD Employment Outlook shows that the UK is doing well compared with other developed nations such as the US and France with lower than average rates of unemployment than the G7, EU and OECD average.
Also this week, the Government announced 7,500 new jobs under the Future Jobs Fund - 2,000 of them in the sports sector.
In total, the Government has already announced over 50,000 new jobs through the £1bn Future Jobs Fund, which provides money for 150,000 jobs - 100,000 of which have been targeted at young people and 50,000 at unemployment hotspots.
Source: DWP
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