The number of teenagers without work or a training course has risen to more than one in 10.
Some 191,000 youngsters aged 16 to 18 are now Neets — not in employment, education or training — a rise from 181,000 in the first quarter of the year to a rate of 10.3 per cent. Among 16-to-24-year-olds there are 968,000 Neets, up from 949,000.
The Government said the rise was seasonal and that the overall trend was down 0.2 per cent on a year ago. But it is a new blow to ministers who have made cutting the number of Neets a priority.
The figures were announced as business leaders criticised the Government’s record on economic policy, including its failure to cut the red tape around hiring and firing workers.
A survey by the Institute of Directors found that 62 per cent thought the Coalition had been ineffective on simplifying employment law, with only 11 per cent saying it had been effective.
Graeme Leach, chief economist at the IoD, said: “The Government’s reform agenda is pointing in broadly the right direction, but the overwhelming opinion of our members is that they are doing too little, too slowly.”
A government spokesman admitted that Neet figures were too high but said record amounts were being spent on training for young unemployed people.
