The ONS have released the latest Labour Market Overview covering the months of March 2023 – May 2023.
What does this mean for Youth Employment?
The latest labour market overview from the Office for National Statistics shows that the youth employment rate has increased by 0.4 percentage points to 11.36%, but it is still nearly three times the all-age rate, with 482,000 16-24-year-olds unemployed (including students).
Headlines for young people aged 16-24
In work:
| Employment rate | Employment Level |
| 54.9% (↓0.4%) | 3,761,000 (↓27,000) |
Unemployment:
| Unemployment rate | Unemployment Level |
| 11.36% (↑0.4%) | 482,000 (↑17,000) |
Economically inactive:
| Economic Inactivity Rate | Economic Inactivity Level |
| 38.0% (↑0.1%) | 2,604,000 (↑12,000) |
Education:
| In full-time education | Not in full-time education |
| 3,122,000 (↑104,000) | 3,725,000 (↓102,000) |
Worklessness:
| Not in full-time education or employment | |
| 987,000 (↓16,000) | |
| Economically inactiveÂ
(not in full-time education) |
Unemployed (not in full-time education) |
|  662,000 (↓20,000) | 325,000 (↑4,000) |
Headlines for all ages
In work:
| Employment rate | Employment Level |
| 76.0% (-%) 16-64 | 33,053,000(↓37,000) |
Unemployment:
| Unemployment rate | Unemployment Level |
| 3.98% (↑0.2%) | 1,370,000 (↑65,000) |
Economically inactive:
| Economically inactive rate | Economically inactive level |
| 20.8% (↓0.2)16-64 | 8,651,000 (↓37,000) 16-64 |
Commentary
Josh Knight, Senior Policy and Research Lead
It is concerning to see the sharp uptick in the youth unemployment rate in this month’s labour market statistics. The unemployment rate for 16 – 24-year-olds is now 11.36%, the highest it has been since July – September 2021 with the number of young people who are not in full-time education or employment up by over 82,000 when compared to the same time last year.Â
We also continue to see worrying regional disparities in the youth unemployment rate too, with London and the East of England recording youth unemployment rates nearly twice as high as those in the North West and the East Midlands.
As the youth unemployment rate reaches an 18 month high it is imperative that the government urgently addresses the individual barriers and challenges facing young people looking for work. As we heard in our latest APPG for Youth Employment report, we know that who you are and where you live play a significant role in a young person’s access to opportunities and these latest figures bear that out.
