There are fears young black men are becoming increasingly marginalised from society after statistics revealed that more than half of them are now unemployed.
The unemployment rate for black men under 24 has risen from 28.8% in 2008 to 55.9%, according to the Office of National Statistics.
In total, the number of unemployed young black men and women has almost doubled from 28% in 2008 to 47.4% since the recession began in 2008,
The number of unemployed young white people has risen at a far slower rate, from just 15% in 2008 to 20.8% in 2011.
The figures, which do not include students, are for the working population of Britain aged 16-24.
They suggest that both black men and black women are being hit disproportionately hard by the recession, with latest jobless figures for young black women showing the rate now at 39.1%.
Robert Rose, 19, from Deptford, told Sky News that he applies for jobs every day online but that the only offers he receives are for unpaid work experience.
His last position was in a cafe where he was asked to mop the floor and wash dishes but he left because he did not earn any money and did not feel he was learning useful skills.
Mr Rose does not believe he is being discriminated against because of his colour but thinks potential employers do not like how he looks and dresses.
"I am doing everything I can to the best of my ability," he said, although he admits he could try even harder.
"There is more I can do. I go on the internet for jobs and hand out CVs but there are other ways you apply for jobs.
"You can look in newspapers. You can ask people word to mouth. I am trying but I'm not going the full length to look for jobs."
His mother Lauren added: "Some young people are genuinely looking for jobs. Some of them, you can see they're frustrated. But some of them, I don't think they are pushing hard enough."
Mr Rose's brother-in-law Nathan John, who runs a mentoring company called Youth Enlightenment, does not believe racial discrimination operates in the jobs market but says young black people have more hurdles to overcome.
"Some of them lack the skills and confidence and belief in themselves to get a job which is going to pay well and there's a stigma to being a young black man that society places on you," he said.
"If you saw someone walking towards you who is young and black, you're not going to think 'there's a future PM, future doctor or future lawyer'. You're thinking 'here's a future gangster. Is he going to stick me up?' That's an issue."
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones grew up in a poor Jamaican family in Birmingham, but founded the Black Farmer food business, and unsucessfully stood as a Conservative candidate in the last election.
He told Sky News "The consequences of having a group of people who fell marginalised, who don't feel they have any stake in society, is the consequences that we could have the riots that we had last summer. It's something that I'd be pretty concerned about, and our politicians should be worried about."
The ONS calculates unemployment as a percentage of the economically-active population.
The Department for Work and Pensions says that when the figure is changed to include students and those unavailable for work, the proportion of young black unemployed falls to 22%.
"We have introduced a number of measures designed to give all young people the right skills and experience to match them to vacancies," a spokesman said.
"This includes the Work Programme, which assesses people as individuals to discover what barriers are preventing them from getting a job and will then work with them overcome these problems.
"We are also spending £1bn over the next three years to help young jobseekers by creating around half a million opportunities through work experience and apprenticeships."
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97 comments
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16Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Toby Twirl • London, England • 27 minutes ago Report Abuse
There is the lie ladies and gentlemen! Why we DON'T need immigrants. NO JOBS!!!!
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23Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Tony • 42 minutes ago Report Abuse
It's not colour or racialism at all. White or black, it's harder to get a job if you are thick.
5 Replies
24Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1James • Brighton, England • 1 hour 30 minutes ago Report Abuse
The media would say that their unemployment is caused by racism. When, unfortunately, most people know it is caused by their race.
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12Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Dennis • 17 minutes ago Report Abuse
not true - last summer they weren't jobless, they had nice little production lines going, i saw it on tv, all helping each other handle products in an orderly queue in various electronics stores in london.
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23Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Stevonymo • London, England • 44 minutes ago Report Abuse
You have to want a job to actually get a job!
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10Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Brian • Bromsgrove, England • 18 minutes ago Report Abuse
maybe they have caught on work on the black market and claim benefits the asians have been doing it big time for years and years, if you sday anything your racist.
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9Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Murdock • Brighton, England • 20 minutes ago Report Abuse
That's with positive discrimination towards white people in the job market and they still can’t get a job, speaks volumes!
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18Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1STEPHEN • Ilford, England • 2 hours 16 minutes ago Report Abuse
And this is with positive discrimination.
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28Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!3Bill • 1 hour 18 minutes ago Report Abuse
Why have we let so many in when there is no work. I don't expect an answer. Certainly not from any politician.
7 Replies
14Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Gazzman1959 • Ilford, England • 26 minutes ago Report Abuse
I run a business, would I employ a person of colour........no I bloody well would not, bad attitude, the world owes them a living, that`s not my job! you are a racist, late every other day, theft from stock, etc etc etc , I have heard it all over the past ten years... not for me i`m afraid, eastern... More
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44Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!6Morticia A. Addams • 2 hours 11 minutes ago Report Abuse
I knew a woman who lived in South Africa, she said that the blacks are like children, totally unreliable. Lots of money was spent building schools in an attempt to educate them and all they did was burn them down. Doesn't matter what country they are in, most of them are unemployable, end of story.
5 Replies
7Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Frogs Knows All • 22 minutes ago Report Abuse
And the other 45% are nothing but trouble.
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16Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1ROBBIE34 • Brighton, England • 41 minutes ago Report Abuse
if you are an older applicant you are discriminated against too
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14Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1M • 3 hours ago Report Abuse
So!
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9Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0KEN • London, England • 15 minutes ago Report Abuse
close the borders as a first step in solving the problem
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11Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Richard • 23 minutes ago Report Abuse
So go and be an unemployment statistic in their own countries.We do not want them here.
1 Reply
15Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!2Lloegyr • 44 minutes ago Report Abuse
55% really; The General Young Person Unemployment rate is 66% so where is the news.
Unless Sky News are trying to stir up Racial Hatred.
2 Replies
4Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Tony • Axminster, England • 6 minutes ago Report Abuse
Some time ago on Channel 4, Documentary in Brixton..A Reporter was talking to Black Youth, and a lot of them admitted they had never been up the Job-Centre. One of the Comments i remember [from many] was "I dont work for crumbs, I get packets of biscuits..Says it all really, That sort should be... More
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4Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Warren • London, England • 14 minutes ago Report Abuse
I wouldn't like to be a young man in this country- there's nothing for you, white or black.
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4Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Jonny • 1 hour 11 minutes ago Report Abuse
Nice to see it's down.......
source:yahoo
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