The government wants more young people to go to university

The proportion of degree-holders who were jobless when they left university increased to 7% in 2001-02 from 6% in 2000-01, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

The amount who found jobs fell to 66% from 67%, while 20% were undergoing further education or training, the same as the previous year.

But the Department for Education and Skills said graduates were still twice as likely to have a job as people without degrees.

Targets

A spokeswoman said: "It is still a good time to be a graduate. Graduate employability as a whole is still better than the national average and as a graduate you are still around half as likely to be unemployed than the working population as a whole.

"These figures only cover destinations of brand new graduates, and we know that graduate unemployment falls significantly over time.

"Latest evidence shows that after two years in the labour market, their unemployment rate is only around 2% to 3%."

The government has set a target of getting "towards 50%" of people under the age of 30 into higher education by 2010.