The Labour Party has organised a youth jobs summit that will
discuss ways to tackle rising unemployment in the 15-24 year
age group.
Labour's youth affairs spokeswoman, Jacinda Ardern, said
today young workers were among the must vulnerable in
troubled economic times and the latest unemployment figures
were evidence of that.
"In the March quarter unemployment for those aged 15-19 years
has risen from 17.9 percent to 19.6 percent," she said.
"Sadly the news is much worse for those in the 20-24 age
group; unemployment has jumped from 7.3 percent to 12
percent.
Ms Ardern said the figures meant an extra 10,300 young people
without jobs.
"There is a real need for an open and urgent debate on youth
unemployment. The summit will be an opportunity to generate
ideas to address this issue of national importance."
She said the summit would not be a political forum and
representatives from all parties represented in Parliament
had been invited.
It will take place on Sunday at Victoria University in
Wellington and the panel of speakers includes:
* Phil O'Reilly, chief executive of Business New Zealand.
* Peter Conway, secretary of the Council of Trade Unions.
* Michael Goldstein, deputy chairman of Student Job Search.
* Jeremy Baker, executive director of the Industry Training
Federation.
* Benedickte Jensen, research director at the New Zealand
Institute.
* Ed Moses, senior policy adviser to the UK Department for
Children, School and Families.
The Government held a jobs summit in Auckland in February to
discuss ways to protect and create jobs during the recession.
Numerous ideas came from it, including the nine-day fortnight
and the cycleway to attract tourists.
