THE Government has been accused of complacency after trumpeting a drop in the number of young people claming Jobseeker’s Allowance.

The number of claimants among 18-24 year olds signing on as they seek work has fallen year-on-year by 11 per cent in both the North-East and Yorkshire to 26,620 and 45,400 respectively.

In County Durham there were 680 less young people claiming in April this year, compared to 12 months ago, according to figures from the Department of Work and Pensions.

This was the sixth biggest absolute drop in the country. Meanwhile, in leafy Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the reduction in JSA claimants was the equivalent of a 45 per cent decrease, the DWP said.

Helen Goodman, who represents Bishop Auckland for Labour, said: “The Government is complacent in the extreme on this issue.

“Thousands more young people in the North-East are now claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for over 12 months when compared to the levels under the previous Labour government.

“Any fall in unemployment is welcome however you don’t need to scratch too far below the surface of these figures to find alarming statistics showing that long term youth unemployment remains worryingly high.”

The MP said the economy was “flat lining” and not creating enough jobs, while calling for a ‘compulsory jobs guarantee’ to get young people out of work for more than a year back into a job.

Mark Hoban, the Coalition Government’s Minister for Employment, said there were 60,000 fewer young claimants across the country now and the youth claimant count was lower than when it took power from Labour in May 2010.

He said: "We launched the Youth Contract which is a combination of work experience, extra support from Jobcentre Plus and wage incentives to help employers give young people a chance.

“It's therefore encouraging to see that despite tough economic times we have seen a fall of 60,000 in the number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance over the past year - including a drop of 680 in County Durham.”