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.