Youth employment has dropped by almost 30% to 44.8% in Aberdeen since 2008.

Figures from the Annual Population Survey reveal the number of working 16-24 year olds was down from 63.9% since the 2008 recession.

The area now sits with the fourth lowest rate to youth employment in the country, narrowly behind East Ayrshire, Edinburgh City and Clackmannanshire, which all have less than half of 16-24-year-olds in work.

The report, from the Scottish Government, shows employment overall in Aberdeen was down 6.3% last year, from 76.5% in 2008.

The main bulk of this attributed to a drop in the number of women, which dropped from 76.4% to 67.9% over the past nine years.

The number of people who have never worked in Aberdeen, excluding students in full time education, has also risen by 15,500 since the recession – the biggest increase of any local authority area.

James Bream, director of Developing the Young Workforce North-east Scotland, said: “These are trends to which there are no quick fix and this is a multi-layered story.

“Employability skills are critical and DYW has enabled over 250 employers in the region to engage with young people in schools.

“We all need to be bolder and more ambitious to ensure our young people are ready for the world of work.

“If we do the same things we have always done we’ll continue to get the same outcome.”

Meanwhile, nationwide employment levels increased to the highest level on record at 2,579,700, while the employment rate for 16-64-year-olds decreased slightly, by 0.1%

Last year the number of unemployed people in Aberdeen increased by 1,000 in 12 months.

New figures obtained by North-east councillors at the start of 2017 showed 3,500 were claiming unemployment benefit in the city in November 2016 – 970 more than the same time the previous year.

In Aberdeenshire, 2,355 people were out of work, compared to the previous year, when the total was 1,655.

That means the total jobless figure across both areas has risen by 1,670.

At 2.2%, Aberdeen now has a higher level of unemployment than areas such as Dundee, North Ayrshire and Falkirk.