Youth (15-29) unemployment ran 13-16% from 2014-2019, hit 17.8% in the 2020 lockdown year, and remains around 12% — consistently above the all-age rate. The structural mismatch isn't pandemic-driven; it predates it.
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This is one of 36 standing analyses drawn from the Some Perspective dataset. It is not dated commentary: it describes a relationship in the data that holds across the series, and it is regenerated whenever the underlying dataset is refreshed. The figures quoted here reflect the 2026-08-15 data vintage.