The number of young people out of work in the South West has more than doubled during the coronavirus pandemic as jobs were lost in retail and hospitality.
The number of people aged between 18 and 24 claiming benefits rose by 171% in the region between November 2019 and November 2020.
There were 31,588 youngsters claiming Universal Credit (UC) just before the nation went into its third lockdown. That means the under 25s account for more than 18% of in the region.
The rise in youth unemployment was particularly steep in Exeter, where it leapt 215% to 696 . In Plymouth there was a 94% rise to 2,043.
The pandemic appears to be hitting the young hardest nationally, with 60% fewer workers aged under 25 鈥 that鈥檚 425,000 youngsters 鈥 on payrolls, a sign of the toll taken by the crisis on young workers.
Joanne Harris, Jobcentre Customer Services manager for Devon and Cornwall, said the problems faced by hospitality and retail businesses because of the Covid pandemic could explain the number of young people claiming benefits.
She said there has been a focus on helping young people in the South West find jobs, and she highlighted the Government鈥檚 Kickstart scheme, a 拢2billion programme designed to put youngsters receiving benefits at the head of the queue for six-month placements with employers.
鈥淲e want to get more local employers involved with Kickstart,鈥 she said.
And she stressed that while Britain鈥檚 jobless rate has surged to its highest level for nearly five years, there are 鈥渆arly signs鈥 of a stabilising jobs market, and several major South West employers are recruiting.
She said fast food giant McDonalds has planning consent to build an outlet at the town鈥檚 retail park and create 鈥渁 raft of new jobs鈥.
In Exeter, the Ivy restaurant is hiring, ahead of opening its city centre branch, and supermarket chain Aldi is investing 拢13million in new and upgraded stores in Wiltshire, creating about 90 jobs.
She said that while restaurants, pubs and hotels are still not able to open, due to ongoing lockdown restrictions, 鈥渢hey are getting ready for when they can return鈥.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment nationally hit 5.1% between October and December 鈥 up from 5% in the previous quarter and its highest since early 2016.
It also revealed that there were 726,000 fewer workers on payrolls in January than before the start of the coronavirus crisis.
Overall, unemployment stood at 1.7million between October and December 2020, up 454,000 over the year, marking .
But the statistics also showed the number of payrolled workers rose by 83,000 between January and February in the second monthly increase in a row.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged to set out his job support plans in next week鈥檚 Budget amid calls for more help from some of the sectors hammered by the crisis.
Mr Sunak said: 鈥淚 know how incredibly tough the past year has been for everyone, and every job lost is a personal tragedy.鈥
鈥淎t the Budget next week I will set out the next stage of our Plan for Jobs, and the support we鈥檒l provide through the remainder of the pandemic and our recovery,鈥 he added.
The furlough scheme has been helping cushion some of the blow of the pandemic, though there are fears of a spike in unemployment when it comes to an end.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: 鈥淭he latest monthly tax figures show tentative early signs of the labour market stabilising, with a small increase in the numbers of employees paid through payroll over the last couple of months.鈥
He said the proportion of people neither working nor looking for work had also stabilised after surging at the start of the pandemic, with 鈥渕any people who lost their jobs early on having now started looking for work鈥.
Figures showed there was also a welcome rise in vacancies between November to January, up 64,000 on the previous quarter.
The claimant count 鈥 another measure that includes people working with low income and hours as well as people who are not working 鈥 also decreased slightly in January, down 0.8% month-on-month to 2.6million.
But this is still double the level seen in March 2020.
Total wages rose by 4.7% annually over the quarter to December, thanks to end of year bonuses, but the ONS stressed that, with a high proportion of jobs axed being lower-paid roles, the underlying increase is likely to be around 3%.
The Bank of England is forecasting the jobless rate to surge to almost 8% by the middle of 2021, however Mr Sunak is expected to announce an extension of job support in the March 3 Budget.
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Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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Economist James Smith, at ING, said: 鈥淭he latest 海角视频 jobs data provides further evidence that the jobs market stabilised in the final weeks of 2020, following a turbulent autumn.鈥
But he cautioned: 鈥淲e suspect that the unemployment rate will rise to around 6% to 6.5% through the middle of the year, and potentially higher if wage support is removed fairly abruptly in the second quarter.鈥
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, said: 鈥淭he pandemic鈥檚 impact on the labour market has been substantially limited by companies鈥 ability to furlough workers under the Government鈥檚 Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Latest ONS data show that the number of workers on full or partial furlough rose to 20% during January 25 to February 7, up from 18% during the previous two weeks.鈥
Jack Kennedy, 海角视频 economist at the global job site Indeed, said: 鈥淎ll eyes will be on the Chancellor next week, with an announcement expected in the Budget on the Government鈥檚 plans for the furlough scheme, which is currently protecting 5.5 million jobs.
鈥淭he key question is how many of those workers will have a job to go back to - either a new job or their existing job - as the Government support is unwound.鈥
BCC Head of Economics Suren Thiru said: 鈥淎lthough the government鈥檚 roadmap provides a way forward, the lack of clarity over the future path of fiscal support has left a damaging cliff edge for jobs and livelihoods.
鈥淚t is vital that the government support schemes, including furlough and business rates relief, are extended through the summer and wherever possible throughout 2021 to help protect jobs and power the recovery.鈥
