THE Government last night sparked a war of words after rejecting claims from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) over soaring youth unemployment as “plain wrong”.

TUC analysis of figures showed that in the North- East, the number of 18 to 24- years-old out of work for more than a year and claiming benefit had leapt 1,034 per cent over the past 12 years. In April 2000, it was 440, compared to 4,990 in April this year.

The TUC said youth unemployment nationally had risen by 264 per cent in the past year, with general secretary Brendan Barber saying young jobseekers’ prospects were bleak.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “The TUC’s use of statistics is just plain wrong.

“Under the previous Labour Government, the scale of long-term youth unemployment was hidden.

“People were transferred off Jobseeker’s Allowance temporarily through training allowances and short-term jobs.

We have stopped doing that.

“When this is taken into account, long-term youth unemployment is lower than May 2010. Since then, we have put in measures so young people can find real sustainable jobs.”

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman said: “Youth unemployment in the North-East has risen from 24,810 in April 2010 to 30,055 in April this year.

“This Tory-led Government needs to wake up to the impact that their failed economic policy is having on our young people.

“Ministers can try and hide the facts, but every parent of a young person knows that it is harder for them to find work than it was two years ago.”

Ben Kendall Ward, 23, a politics graduate from Darlington, who has been out of work for a year, said he felt he had been treated like a statistic when he sought help to find work. Mr Kendall Ward, who is on an internship with Darlington Borough Council, said he had applied for numerous jobs, without success.

He said: “I cannot get a job without experience, but I cannot get the experience I need without a job.

“I feel like a train steadily running out of steam. I am not getting any response from employers and have been getting more and disheartened.”

Meanwhile, in a report, research group The Work Foundation said the Government’s response to youth unemployment was “insufficient and fragmented”, with responsibilities split across departments and a lack of national co-ordination.