There are now 928,000 jobless young people in Britain of whom 206,000 are aged 16 or 17 and 722,000 are aged 18 to 24.
There are 472,100 18- to 24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and nearly a quarter of those who became unemployed in the three months to June 2009 were under 25.
Martina Milburn, chief executive of youth charity The Prince's Trust, claimed that youth unemployment now costs the state £3.4 million per day. She warned the problem is set to get worse.
"This is just the start of a long and downward spiral, which all too often leads to crime, homelessness or worse. Only by stopping young people fall out of the system can we rescue this lost potential and save the economy billions each year," she said.
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