Unemployment is a situation whereby people are able and willing to work but they are not able to get the jobs that they want. Unemployment in the United Kingdom is a major problem. The article by Jack Evens gives important statistics about the United Kingdom unemployment. United Kingdom is one of the G8 countries that have the problem of unemployment. As a G8 member, the country is expected to have the best economy with employment close to full employment. However, this is not the case. Even though it is not possible to attain full employment, the number of youths that are unemployed has been increasing and is currently very high. This shows that the problem is a serious macroeconomic problem that needs to be addressed.
According to the article, 21.2 percent of the youths between 16 and 24 years are unemployed. This shows an increase in unemployment rate by 0.9 percent from the previous year 2012. Considering that the first quarter of 2013 has witnessed an increase in unemployment of the youths, it means that the government has not done enough to deal with the problem.
According to the article, unemployed youths receive an allowance. This includes all the youths who are over 18 years of age. According to the article, the number of youths claiming unemployment allowances has reduced by about 2600. This shows that the government has done much to reduce unemployment for people above the age of 18 but considering that the overall unemployment has been increasing, it means that the youths between 16 and 17 years form the highest proportion of the unemployed youths. 37.3 percent of the youths between the age of 16 and 17 years are unemployed. It is important to reduce this unemployment because it has negative effects to the economy.
In conclusion, it can be seen that unemployment is a serious macroeconomic problem in United Kingdom. The trend from the graph in the article shows that unemployment rate of youths has been increasing since 2003. The United Kingdom government should take the necessary measures to deal with this problem.
Work cited
Jack E. Youth unemployment Statistics. House of Commons library. 2013 Print.
