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In February 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reintroduced Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, after issues with data reliability in the second half of 2023.

The ONS have said that the reintroduced LFS estimates should be treated with additional caution, and that the quarterly change estimates are particularly volatile. 

In September to November 2024:

  • there were 628,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed, 98,000 more than the previous year. The unemployment rate for young people was 14.5%, up from 12.4% from the year before.
  • there were 3.70 million young people aged 16 to 24 in employment, 40,000 fewer than the previous year. The employment rate for young people was 50.4%, down from 51.8% the year before.
  • there were 3.02 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, 75,000 more than the previous year. This is the highest recorded number since the current series began in 1992. The inactivity rate for young people was 41.1%, up from 40.8% the year before.

Bar chart showing changes over the year to the most recent quarter in the total number of people aged 16-64, and the number of people aged 16-64 who are employed, unemployed, and economically inactive.

In July to September 2024 there were 946,000 people aged 16-24 who were not in employment, education or training, 12.3% of all 16-24 year olds.

In December 2024, 301,500 people aged 18 to 24 claimed unemployment related benefits. This was around the same as the previous month and an increase of 21,400 from a year before.


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