Youth unemployment / Using data analytics to help the young jobless

Unemployment in the UK is in decline, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics. Between May and June this year, the unemployment fell by 0.1 percentage points to 7.7%, compared to the previous three months.

But for young people, the situation is much worse. Of those 16 to 24 year olds not in education, 21% are unemployed, the ONS found. This shows how the under 25s can bear the brunt of an economic downturn, and illustrates the need for support to help young people get into work.

One organisation providing that support is the Medway Youth Trust. The Medway region, in Kent, has seen a steady rise in unemployment since the close of the Chatham navy dockyard in the 1980s.

MYT provides advice and guidance to young people in area to help through education and into work. One of it key responsibilities is identifying young people who are at risk of becoming ‘NEETs’, standing for ‘not in employment, education or training’.

To do that, the charity uses data analytics.

Back in 2008, the organisation implemented SPSS, the statistical analytics application that has since been acquired by IBM.

It uses the software to analyse structured data such as educational records, to build a statistical model that could predict the likelihood of a young person falling into unemployment after leaving education.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Medway Youth Trust tackles unemployment with visual analytics | Information Age.