A sharp decline in youth unemployment in a single Merseyside borough has confounded national trends, offering a rare bright spot in an otherwise stagnant labour market for young Britons. Data released today by the Office for National Statistics shows that Knowsley, a borough bordering Liverpool, recorded a 40% drop in unemployment among 18- to 24-year-olds over the past year, falling from 8.2% to 4.
9%. This stands in stark contrast to the national youth jobless rate, which has crept up to 12.8%, the highest in the OECD.
The turnaround has been attributed to a combination of targeted local government intervention and strategic private sector investment. Knowsley's Labour-led council, in partnership with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, launched the 'Knowsley Works' programme last year, offering free skills training, apprenticeships, and guaranteed interviews to every young resident. Simultaneously, a major logistics hub expansion by the Port of Liverpool and the creation of a new manufacturing park by Jaguar Land Rover generated over 2,000 entry-level jobs.
Local economic development officers say the borough's central location at the intersection of two motorways and its proximity to the port have made it an attractive base for businesses seeking to tap into the Northern Powerhouse initiative. The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that Knowsley's approach will be studied as a potential model for other high-unemployment areas. Labour market analysts caution, however, that the borough's success may be difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Knowsley has a relatively small population of 155,000 and benefits from significant regional investment that not every area commands. Nonetheless, for the young people of Knowsley, the results are tangible. Shane O'Brien, 21, a former warehouse operative who completed a council-led IT apprenticeship, now works as a junior network engineer earning £28,000 a year.
'I never thought I'd get a job like this around here,' he told the BBC. 'It feels like things are finally turning around.' The ONS data also reveals that Knowsley's overall unemployment rate has fallen below the national average for the first time in a decade, a milestone that political leaders have seized upon.
Knowsley's council leader, Cllr Graham Morgan, called the figures 'a testament to what can happen when local people, government, and business work together.' Chancellor Jeremy Hunt highlighted the borough's progress during a visit to the region last week, describing it as an example of 'levelling up in action.' The opposition Labour Party has countered that much more needs to be done to address the widening gap between successful and struggling regions.
Youth unemployment remains a pressing national issue, with 680,000 16- to 24-year-olds currently out of work and not in full-time education. The Resolution Foundation warns that long-term youth unemployment can scar employment prospects for decades. Knowsley's experiment, while small, offers a proof of concept that intervention at the local level can make a significant difference.
Whether it can be scaled up remains the critical question for policymakers.
