Last week, figures were published showing that youth unemployment in London had risen by 4.9%, from 6,530 to 6,850, between April and May 2012.
Despite the positive news that the headline unemployment rate decreased marginally by 1.7%, it is evident that the London jobs crisis is getting worse:
- The number of jobs being advertised in the Capital decreased in just one month by 12.8%, and
- Unemployment overall is still higher in London than this time last year and significantly higher than it was before the general election in May 2010,
- Those in work continue to see there wages cut in real terms as inflation outstrips incomes.
It is against this backdrop that the Prime Minister has turned on the victims of his failed economic policies, particularly young people – deriding the unemployed for not “doing the right thing”, when, in reality, the majority just want a job and a chance to get on in life.
For the Mayor’s part, he has made wild claims about delivering 54,000 apprenticeships in London and has pledged to do more to tackle the continuing crisis over the lack of jobs.
Yet the crisis is getting worse and ordinary Londoners are struggling.
