The possibility of economic recovery in 2010 may be a real one but uncertainty remains about the pattern of unemployment which may take up to ten years to return to pre-recession levels.

This report urges the government to focus on minimizing the damage of youth unemployment and take measures to restrict the numbers of new claimants onto the employment register, proposing a short-time working scheme, a one-off expansion of higher education provision in 2010 and changes to the job guarantee scheme.