Youth unemployment rose by a record 19.8pc but fell short of the one-million mark, according to today's latest official figures.A total of 943,000 people, aged between 16 and 24, were out of work - an increase of 15,000 or 19.

One in five of the country's young people are out of work, today's figures have revealed.

Youth unemployment rose by a record 19.8pc but fell short of the one-million mark, according to the latest official figures.

A total of 943,000 people, aged between 16 and 24, were out of work - an increase of 15,000 or 19.8pc on the previous month.

The headline unemployment total rose by 30,000 to just under 2.5 million.

And the number claiming Jobseekers' allowance rose for the 20th consecutive month - by 12,600 to 1.64 million - the highest total for 16 years.

In the east, the unemployment rate remained unchanged - the only region in the country - at a total of 194,000 or 6.5pc of the working population.

The number termed economically inactive, including those on long-term sick leave, caring for relatives or no longer seeking work, was a record eight million. It rose by 41,000 over the latest quarter.

The inactivity rate is 21pc of the working age population - the highest since records began in 1971. But for the first time since last summer, the total number in work rose by 6,000 to 29 million.

The number of 18 to 24-year-olds out of work rose by 24,000 over the three months to 746,000, a rate of 18pc, the highest since 1992.

Lib Dem work and pensions spokesman, Steve Webb said: 'Ministers need to explain why their never-ending announcements on jobs have done nothing to avoid a record number of young people finding themselves out of work.

'It is a national disgrace that one in five 16 to 24 year-olds are now unemployed. As a society we cannot afford to write off a whole generation in this way.'