BRITAIN is facing the biggest youth unemployment crisis in a generation, a union leader claimed – with almost 1m young people out of work.

Figures from the TUC showed that youth unemployment has risen in 97% of local authority areas in the UK during the past 12 months – with a figure of one in five in some areas of Yorkshire.

The TUC said youth unemployment in the region had risen by 7.4% since the start of the recession in 2007.

Kirklees saw a 1.4% rise in the number of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker’s allowance during the past 12 months and a 4.7% rise since the start of the recession. However, Kirklees fared better than its neighbours. In Calderdale, the claimant count rose by 1.8% in the past year and by 5.8% since 2007; Wakefield was up by 1.8% and 6.1% with Bradford up by 2% and 5.3%.

The TUC said youth unemployment was set to hit the 1m mark when the Office for National Statistics release latest jobless figures next week as the number of 18 to 24-year-olds unable to find work in the UK has increased in 196 of 202 local authorities.

Doncaster has one of the biggest rises in the number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance between September, 2010, and September, 2011, with a 2.7% rise. That follows an increase of 7.4% over the previous three years.

TUC regional secretary Bill Adams said: “We’re facing the biggest youth unemployment crisis in a generation with close to 1m of our young people unable to find work.

“With the economic outlook the gloomiest it’s been since the end of the recession, the bleak prospects facing young jobseekers look set to be with us for some considerable time to come unless the government changes course now and brings in immediate measures to support jobs and growth.

“Young people need particular help to make sure they don’t spend long periods out of employment or education.

“We need a proper replacement for the Future Jobs Fund, new measures to support the creation of more apprenticeships and a government commitment that no unemployed young person will spend more than six months out of employment or high quality training.”

Mr Adams said: “The Chancellor’s plan A has already sent unemployment to a 17-year high.

“The young people in Yorkshire and our whole country urgently need a plan B to get people back into work and the economy back on its feet”.