Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in youth unemployment between June to August and September to November 2014.

Unemployment figures from the Labour Force Survey are based on a sample of individuals and normal sample variation means the estimated level of youth unemployment can fluctuate from any one period to the next. The number of young people in work is increasing, up by over 100,000 in the last year and by over 125,000 since 2010.

The underlying trend has seen falling youth unemployment and during 2014 overall youth unemployment recorded its largest annual fall on record. The number of unemployed 16-24 year olds fell 171,000 in the year to September - November 2014 and is down nearly 200,000 since 2010. Long-term youth unemployment has also fallen by more than 50,000 over the last year. The number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, which is more up to date and not affected by sampling issues, fell by 118,400 in the year to January 2015. It continued to fall in the latest month, down 10,700 between December 2014 and January 2015. This is the 38^th consecutive monthly fall and means the youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the 1970s.