School leavers 'face jobs squeeze'

First Edition

JOB prospects for school-leavers, already faced with above-average unemployment, are set to worsen further this summer, while youngsters who opt for further education may fare little better, a Labour Party survey of official figures says, writes Patricia Wynn Davies.

Frank Dobson, Labour's employment spokesman, said the Government's quarterly labour force survey showed that 125,000 16- and 17-year-olds were still out of work or without a training place or full-time education at the end of the winter quarter.

For 18- to 19-year-olds, the jobless rate had almost doubled from 9.8 per cent in April 1990 to 18.1 per cent in April this year. The rate for 20 to 24-year-olds, including graduates, rose from 8.9 per cent to 16.7 per cent.

'These figures are far higher than the overall rate,' Mr Dobson said.