The number of young people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK who were not in education, employment or training (NEET), increased by 8,000 in the period from January to March 2018, when compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Office of National Statistics.

The percentage of all young people in the UK who were NEET was 11.5%; up 0.3% compared to the period from January to March 2017.

ONS stated that of all young people in the UK who were NEET, 39.9% were looking for work and available for work and therefore classified as unemployed; the remainder were either not looking for work and/or not available for work and therefore classified as economically inactive.

Figures from ONS published last week showed that the unemployment rate was 4.2% for the same three-month period, the joint lowest since 1975.