A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said the 28,000 included people on part-time courses and had to be seen in the context of a half-million increase in the 16 to 24 population since 1997.
The proportion of 16- to 24- year-olds not in full-time education or work has fallen from 17.2 per cent to 16.3 per cent, she added. The figures, released last week, also show that 36 per cent of young people embarking on the Government's New Deal for Young People scheme last year got into sustained employment.
The Conservative Party has said it would abolish New Deal, replacing it with a scheme called Work First, offering incentives to companies for getting young people into work. The Government uses the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance to measure unemployment.
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