Overall this means that the unemployment rate has fallen from 8.2% to 8%. The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance also dropped, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

ONS added that the impact of the Olympics cannot be overstated however, and they expect the figure to rise again in September.

Despite this, the government are celebrating the “robustness” of these figures. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said, "The work we're doing through the youth contract and through the work programme and through work experience should be supported by people like the trade unions and the Labour Party instead of being carped at by them, which is what they do the whole time."

Another report by the TUC trade union body added that the job outlook for those under 24 was at its bleakest point since 1994, figures showing that the proportion of young people in full-time education had risen from 24% in 1992 to 41% this year. They added that this, combined with the rising long-term joblessness creates a worrying outlook.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber told the BBC, "It's particularly worrying that long-term joblessness for young people is still rising, even as overall unemployment falls. If this continues we could lose a generation of talented and highly qualified youngsters to blighted careers, debt and under-achievement."