MP Diane Abbott has warned of a “ticking youth unemployment time bomb,” as figures reveal long term youth unemployment is at its highest rate for 15 years.

Unemployment figures released by the Office for National Statistics last Wednesday/ today show the long-term youth claimant count stands at 163,300.

This denotes a rise of 115 per cent since last March, when the figure stood at 87,500.

The figure has not been as high in 15 years since April 1997 when it was 174,300.

However figures in Ms Abbott’s constituency, Hackney North and Stoke Newington are even worse, where the long-term young claimant count has risen from 35 last year to 110 this year – a rise of 214 per cent.

Meanwhile in Hackney South and Shoreditch, the long-term youth claimant count has risen from 50 last year to 200 - an increase of 300 per cent.

Ms Abbott said Hackney desperately needs action on long term youth unemployment:

“We’ve had two years of excuses and now we’ve got the evidence – this Government has utterly failed to tackle Britain’s jobs emergency and we are limping along in crisis,” she said.

“Hackney is paying the price and young people in Hackney are tired of excuses, they need action on jobs, now.”