THE government must cut interest rates and invest in youth as new unemployment data shows one in six young people are jobless, unions and experts warn.

Unemployment unexpectedly rose to a near five-year high with young and disabled Britons hardest hit by the shock data published by the Office for National Statistics today.

Outside of the coronavirus pandemic, this marks the highest three-month reading since the autumn of 2015.

The TUC called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to boost spending and support fragile jobs, pointing to the record level of precarious zero-hour contracts reaching 1.2 million.

Its general secretary Paul Nowak said the job market will only get better once the economy starts to recover after the ONS said the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent into the last quarter.

It also found that employment was unchanged at 75.0 per cent and inactivity is down 0.2 to 21.0 per cent.

“But right now a lack of spending is holding back growth — which means a fragile jobs market and a worrying situation for lots of workers,” he said.

“The Bank of England must go for growth and deliver a series of rate cuts so that households and firms feel more confident about spending.

“And with the effects of the recent economic slowdown continuing to feed into the labour market, it is it is vital that those who are out of work get the help they need — especially young people.

“That means a youth jobs guarantee which is ambitious in scale and scope, and world-class public services to ensure young people and disabled workers are supported to stay in work.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the Morning Star the figures “make grim reading for workers.”

“We desperately need to see serious government investment, to deliver jobs now and for the future.”

The Work Foundation’s director Ben Harrison said figures show a “weakening and uneven labour market” with Britain posting the fastest annual increase in unemployment among G7 countries.

The foundation’s analysis also found that one in 11 disabled people are unemployed (9.2 per cent), marking their highest rate of unemployment in over six year. Disabled people are twice as likely as non-disabled to be jobless.

There are now 547,000 unemployed disabled people, up from 110,000 in 2024.

He called for ministers to “prioritise a twin focus on rapidly expanding tailored employment support and ensuring those returning to work are able to access secure, and well-paid jobs across the country.”