Hackney has highest rate of youth unemployment

It may be old news to some but 2008 figures show Hackney had the highest level of youth unemployment in the country - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8199269.stm

Also, Hackney is the only London borough to win a government grant to help it do something useful with empty shops. According to this article in Regen.net, communities minister John Denham said councils in receipt of the grants would be able to use the money as they saw fit on ideas to boost town centres and transform boarded up shops into something useful, such as a meeting place, a learning centre or a showroom for local artists.

He said: "There is no need to see unused shops on our high streets going to waste, especially when we know that it doesn't take a lot to turn a vacant shop into something beneficial for the community."

Recent unemployment stories on Blood and Property here:
http://bloodandproperty.blogspot.com/search/label/unemployment

In the Guardian:

Council's are not prepared for the next wave of the recession - according to the Audit Commission.

Unemployed in Hackney: The lull before the storm