One in eight of Ireland's under-25s is now unemployed, and unemployment among the young has doubled in just 14 months.

Recent figures from Eurostat show that the number of people under 25 who are unemployed stood at 12.7% in August, up from 5.9% in June of last year when Ireland had the lowest youth unemployment rate in the whole of the EU27.

"What we are seeing is a significant weakening of the labour market," said Fergal O'Brien, senior economist with Ibec. "The Eurostat trends are largely in line with our own live register. Unemployment has increased to a greater extent among the under-25s than the over-25s.

"It is the nature of the employment market that older people tend to be in more secure, permanent jobs while younger people are more likely to be in contract or temporary employment. Also younger people are more likely to be employed in jobs that have been created in recent years such as construction and services sector, which are more exposed to our domestic economy."

Bríd O'Brien, head of policy with the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU), said the availability of highly paid jobs in retail and construction attracted many younger people out of education. She said this was particularly the case with young men, most of whom had started to work in construction.

"Trying to get alternative employment in a tightening labour market will be challenge for people who may not have the Leaving Cert," she said.