Youth unemployment has breached the landmark one million mark, official figures released today confirmed.

According to Office for National Statistics figures, over one-in-five (21.9%) 16 to 24 year olds are now unemployed, up 1.7% in the three months from June.

Former Communities and Local Government Secretary, David Miliband, who is chairing an ACEVO task force into youth unemployment told The Times ‘extraordinary measures' were needed to prevent the ‘timebomb' of long-term youth unemployment.

Ministers today also announced extra funding to deliver 20,000 apprenticeships for young people aged between 16 to 24 in 2012/13 to combat youth unemployment.

Skills minister, John Hayes claimed employers can fully recoup training costs within three years and that every pound of public investment in such programmes generates up to £40 for the wider economy - boosting an employee's lifetime earnings by around £100,000.

Overall unemployment rose by 129,000 to 2.62 million people, a 0.4% hike bringing the national rate to 8.3% - the highest since September 1994.

A further 111,000 jobs were shed in the public sector between March and June, swamping the mere 41,000 jobs created nationally by the commercial sector over the same time.