Jenette Arnold calls on Boris to tackle ‘alarming’ youth unemployment rise

Sarah Ingrams, Reporter Thursday, June 28, 2012
2:21 PM

Jennette Arnold called on the Mayor to tackle “alarming” rising youth unemployment after figures reveal a dramatic increase in Hackney.

The London Assembly Member for Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest challenged Boris Johnson after figures released last week revealed a 186.4% rise in long term youth unemployment in Hackney since May 2011.

This far exceeds London’s average, of a 4.9% youth unemployment increase between May and June 2012.

In total there are 3400 long term unemployed people in Hackney but only 747 vacancies, 31.2% fewer than last month.

Ms Arnold said: “More needs to be done to tackle youth unemployment and job creation. There has been a significant reduction in the number of jobs available, meaning that more and more young people are chasing fewer jobs.

“The Mayor and government need to bring forward a plan for jobs and growth to get people back to work.”