A LABOUR bid to get youngsters off welfare and into work comes amid a new hiring slump.
Sir Keir Starmer will today pledge to create 55,000 more apprenticeships by covering the full cost of training within small and medium-sized businesses.
But a monthly jobs report by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has found vacancies have fallen in every part of the economy, especially in the hospitality sector.
The PM is putting £725million into the scheme in a bid to defuse anger over his “Benefits Street Budget”.
Last night, he insisted apprenticeships were a “defining cause for this government”, as almost one million 16 to 24-year-olds are out of either work, education or training.
But the drive risks being undone because tax-hit firms have fewer vacancies.
Lisa Fernihough, of auditors KPMG UK, said: “The latest figures confirm the jobs market remains stuck in contraction.
“A complex business environment and uncertainty around the Budget kept hiring on ice last month.”
UKHospitality boss Kate Nicholls added: “The total tax bill in last year’s budget in April was £3.4 billion, this year, it’s £2.2 billion.
“So that’s just not sustainable.
“You cannot balance the nation’s books on the backs of small businesses in hospitality and then tell them they should be providing jobs and growth in our communities.”
