Young jobless capital is revealed

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Hull is the British city with the highest rate of youth unemployment, a study has said, with 9.85% of under-25s claiming jobless benefits in May.

Sunderland had the second worst rate of 9.45% with Barnsley third at 9.13%, the Centre for Cities research group said.

The average rate of young people claiming unemployment benefit is 5.66%.

The Centre for Cities predicted that the number of long-term unemployed young people would rise from 130,000 in May 2009 to 350,000 by December 2011.

The figures for the number of long-term unemployed people are based on the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) figures, instead of the number of people claiming benefits.

WORST 10 BRITISH CITIES FOR YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT 1, Hull 9.85%2, Sunderland 9.45%3, Barnsley 9.13%4, Doncaster 8.96%5, Liverpool 8.53%6, Middlesbrough 8.50%7, Birmingham 8.50%8, Wigan 8.34%9, Hastings 8.29%10, Rochdale 8.21% <i>Source: Nomis claimant count data</i> <a class="" href="/2/hi/business/7842026.stm">What to do if you lose your job</a>

The ILO predicts that there will be a total of 2.94 million people out of work by the end of 2011.

At the moment, 40% of unemployed people are between 16 and 24, and if that proportion is still the case then 1.18 million young people will be out of work.

The Centre for Cities then looked at the proportion of unemployed young people who have been out of work for more than a year to come up with the prediction of 350,000 long-term unemployed 16 to 24 year olds by December 2011.

It said that the government's Future Jobs Fund, which aims to create 150,000 jobs for young people by 2011, would not be enough.

"It will not be big enough to help every long-term unemployed young person," said Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities.

"So it will need to be targeted very carefully on those young people in cities that have seen a recent rise in unemployment due to the recession."

The Future Jobs Fund is £1bn that local authorities, companies and other organisations can bid for to fund the creation of jobs for young people who have been out of work for a year or more.

At least 50,000 of the jobs created are supposed to be in unemployment hotspots.

The deadline for the first round of bids for the fund is 30 June.