Youth unemployment statistics

Youth unemployment, employment and inactivity 

In June to August 2026:

• there were 715,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed, 54,000 more than the previous year. The unemployment rate for young people was 15.6%, up from 14.6% from the year before.
• there were 3.88 million young people aged 16 to 24 in employment, 10,000 more than a year before. The employment rate for young people was 51.4%, down from 52.0% the year before.
• there were 2.96 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, 41,000 more than in the previous year. The inactivity rate for young people was 39.1%, which is the same as the year before.

Young people not in education employment or training

In April to June 2026, there were 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 who were not in employment, education or training (NEET), 13.0% of all 16-to-24-year-olds. This includes unemployed and economically inactive young people who are not in education or training. In January to March 2026, the number of young people who are NEET exceeded 1 million for the first time since 2013.

Young people claiming unemployment benefits by constituency

The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits (the ‘claimant count’) is not the same as unemployment but is useful for tracking changes in the labour market.

People claiming unemployment-related benefits include people claiming Universal Credit who are required to seek work and people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. 

The map below shows the claimant rate for 18 to 24 year olds by parliamentary constituency in September 2026. Youth claimant rates are not available for Northern Ireland constituencies. 

Reliability of Labour Force Survey data

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces labour market statistics using the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In recent years, fewer people have been responding to the LFS, which the ONS has identified as a challenge to data reliability. The number of responses fell to its lowest point in July to September 2023, and as a result, detailed LFS estimates were not published between October 2023 and January 2024 because of quality concerns.

Although the ONS started publishing LFS data again in February 2024, these figures were rebadged as ‘official statistics in development’, instead of ‘official statistics’ until the August 2026 release, when they went back to being ‘official statistics’. The number of responses has increased steadily since the low point in July to September 2023. In July 2026, the ONS said that the higher response rate “helps to increase the precision in our estimates” but “caution is still advised when assessing change over time periods” and “when analysing more detailed estimates”.

The ONS has been working on a Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS), which will eventually replace the Labour Force Survey. This will be an online-first survey which will enable a larger sample size than the LFS and therefore should improve the quality of the survey estimates.

Most of the statistics that are included in this briefing are taken from the LFS, and these statistics should be treated with more caution than usual. Section 5 provides further information. Some of the statistics in this briefing, such as vacancies and earnings, are taken from other surveys.