Youth unemployment increased between 2008 and the first quarter of this year, and more young people have given up looking for work, Statistics SA's youth labour market report showed yesterday. Of the approximately 19.7million working-age youth (15 to 34 years), 9.8million were not economically active, 6.2million were employed, and 3.6million were unemployed. The "not economically active" include discouraged work-seekers, students, and homemakers."Over the period 2008-15, key labour market rates deteriorated by a larger margin among youth compared with adults, and the frustration of not finding employment has led many young people to become discouraged and exit the labour force altogether," Stats SA said.The latest data indicate there is still a long way ahead for policy- makers to implement economic-growth-inducing policies, and boost confidence in the private sector, which has the potential to grow businesses and create jobs."Whereas in 2015 as many as 3.6million young people were unemployed and actively looking for work, a substantially lower number of adults, 1.9million, were in that situation," Stats SA said.Youth unemployment partly reflects population growth, and a lack of job opportunities given pedestrian economic growth.The 1million jobs created between 2008 and the first quarter of this year were solely on account of job gains among adults, while youth job losses of 221000 were recorded, the report showed.Youth unemployment has increased since 2008, rising from 32.7% in 2008 to 36.1% in 2011, and remained between 35% and 37% in subsequent years, according to Stats SA. ..