'Neets' figures are slightly higher than last year

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Page last updated at 10:40 GMT, Thursday, 23 February 2012

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By Amy Gladwell
Newsbeat reporter Shannon and Rianna Moreau

The number of under-25s not in any kind of work, education or training (Neets) remains close to a million and is slightly higher than this time last year.

New figures show an extra 19,000 young people aged 16-24 were Neet compared to the same period the year before.

UK unemployment rates have hit a 16-year high, according to the latest figures.

Young people out of work has risen by 22,000 to 1.04 million.

'Tarred'

Nineteen-year-old Rianna Moreau from Bournemouth is a Neet and says she is "really annoyed" with having that label.

She has been unemployed on and off for the past year and is living on benefits.

I now have nothing to wake up for. I have got to the point where I have just sat there and cried and thought I might as well give up

Rianna Moreau

She said: "I'm sure there are hundreds out there like me who are fed up of being tarred with the same brush for signing on.

"Everyone has their reasons."

Rianna says she had no choice but to leave school at 15 because she was "put through hell every day" by bullies and later suffered from depression.

She claims she is now struggling to get work, partly because she has no qualifications.

She says she has a criminal record for shoplifting and that employers are put off by her tattoos.

'Right direction'

Rianna also admits being sacked from more than one job for reasons like being late, but claims she regrets it and "would scrub toilets for minimum wage" as long as she was working.

"I now have nothing to wake up for," she admitted.

Rianna Moreau says employers have been put off by her tattoos

"I have got to the point where I have just sat there and cried and thought I might as well give up."

Her younger sister, 18-year-old Shannon Moreau, also left school at 15 but is now is doing a nursery nurse apprenticeship.

She thinks her sister should "up her game" though and aim to do the same thing.

Earlier this week the government announced plans to get 55,000 16 and 17-year-old Neets either into education, training or employment.

It is part of its youth contract, a £1bn scheme to tackle youth unemployment.

Rianna described it as a "step in the right direction" but said until further details of help were announced for her age group she "doesn't know what to do".