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The Prime Minister has pledged an extra 85,000 jobs and training opportunities for young people at a Youth Jobs Summit being held today in Birmingham. The summit marks the next phase of the Government’s Backing Young Britain campaign. Under the scheme, more than 150 employers, including the Royal Mail, Microsoft, Centrica and Morrisons, will provide apprenticeships, work or training.

The Government also announced 45,000 new training and support opportunities to help young people move into sectors that needed new talent and had vacancies, including hospitality, leisure, tourism and retail. It was also announced that 18-24 year olds will be able to take up a new job from the Future Jobs Fund after claiming jobseeker's allowance for 10 months rather than a year, from April 2010.

Gordon Brown said: "This Government will do everything we can to help people who are suffering because of the global economic downturn. We know that people of all ages are being hit by the recession, but it is young people who can be most at risk and that's where Backing Young Britain can really make a difference."
Official figures have revealed that the jobless rate among 16 to 24-year-olds has soared to 20%, with more than 920,000 classed as unemployed.