YOUTH unemployment has reached crisis levels, the government was warned yesterday after new figures showed the jobless count leapt by 70% in the Merseyside area in just nine months.

The number of under-24s who have been claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) for at least six months soared from 3,020 to 5,160 in Merseyside, North Cheshire and West Lancashire, Labour revealed.

That rise between January and September this year masked even bigger increases in many parliamentary constituencies, according to the study by the House of Commons library.

The blackspots in Merseyside were the leafier parts of Wirral, in the constituencies of Wirral South (up 143%) and Wirral West (up 114%).

Even worse hit were Warrington North (up 223%), Warrington South (up 200%) and the city of Chester (up 186%) and even Chancellor George Osbornes seat of Tatton (up 150%).

The increases were lower in percentage terms in Liverpool but the total number of long-term young jobless was much higher, at 1,445.

Labour seized on the figures as fresh evidence that the governments harsh cuts programme was threatening to create a lost generation, whose prospects would be blighted for life.

Staging a Commons debate, Liam Byrne, the partys work and pensions spokesman, said: It is now clear that, in communities all over Britain, youth unemployment is reaching crisis levels.

Most alarming of all is the dramatic rise in the number of young people on the dole long term.

The longer someone is out of work the harder it is to get them back into work.

When communities are seeing long term youth unemployment rise by more than 100% since the election, we know the government has got to change course and fast.

But, quizzed on the figures, David Cameron insisted his government was doing everything we can to help people get back into work.

He told MPs: Obviously, we face a difficult situation with unemployment, including among young people, right across the country. That is why there is record investment going into apprenticeships and the Work Programme.

The prime minister again came under fire for axing Labours Future Jobs Fund for the young jobless, but insisted it was three or four times more expensive than other job creation schemes and largely filled posts in the public sector.

Labour has unveiled a five-point plan for jobs, including a tax on eye-watering bank bonuses to guarantee a job for 100,000 young people and build 25,000 affordable homes.

The governments response will come later this month, when Mr Osborne unveils growth measures in a crucial autumn statement.

Across the country, total youth unemployment stands at 991,000, around one in five 18 to 24-year-olds the highest figure since the statistic was first recorded.