Jobseeker's Allowance: Graduates

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department’s most recent estimate is of the number of university students who graduated in 2009 and who are in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance in (a) England, (b) Leeds and (c) Leeds North West.

Mr. Lammy
BIS does not have information on the number of graduates who are claiming jobseeker’s allowance.

However, as a proxy, for those who left university in 2009, we can use the labour force survey to look at their initial outcomes in July to September 2009. The following table gives the latest BIS estimates of the number of 2009 UK domiciled first degree leavers in different labour market activities. Note that typically new graduates take time to move into employment in the months after graduating, with more graduates out of work in the first few months after graduation.

BIS does not hold this information for England, Leeds or Leeds North West.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                  |2008/09 graduates|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Employment                                                        |153,000          |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|ILO unemployment                                                  |88,000           |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Economic inactivity                                               |49,000           |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Sources:Labour Force Survey Quarter 3 2009.BIS internal estimates.|                 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------