An investigation carried out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has revealed that, at the end of last year, of the 620 million economically active people aged between 15 and 24, 81 million were still unemployed, compared to the 7.8 million in 2007.
The global youth unemployment rate consequently rose from 11% in 2007, to 13% in 2009. According to the ILO projections this rate is destined to further increase during the current year 2010, but it should be likely to slightly decline in 2011, where it should reach 12.7%.
Youth unemployment rate has showed to be more sensitive to the downturn than the adult rate, and its recovery is, very likely, destined to lag behind that of older people.
Between 2007 and 2009, youth inactivity rose of 2 points in the UK and of 2.8 points in Spain, suggesting that youth people are becoming the more and more discouraged by the current job market.
20% of young people in Germany, Spain and the UK usually spend more than a year looking for a job.
According to the latest figures, revealed by the UK Office for National Statistics, youth unemployment has slightly fallen from 17.8% in the first quarter of the current year, to 17.5% in the second quarter.
