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Youth unemployment statistics

Youth unemployment, employment and inactivity 

In March to May 2026:

• there were 743,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed, 112,000 more than the previous year. The unemployment rate for young people was 16.4%, up from 14.2% from the year before.
• there were 3.80 million young people aged 16 to 24 in employment, little changed from a year before. The employment rate for young people was 50.5%, down from 51.3% the year before.
• there were 2.99 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, also little changed from the previous year. The inactivity rate for young people was 39.7%, down from 40.2% from the year before.

Young people not in education employment or training

In January to March 2026, there were 1.01 million people aged 16 to 24 who were not in employment, education or training (NEET), 13.5% of all 16-to-24-year-olds. This includes unemployed and economically inactive young people who are not in education or training. This was the first time that the number of young people who are NEET has exceeded 1 million since 2013.

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’. 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.

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 June 2026.