ONE in four young Scots is now officially out of work, sparking demands for politicians at Westminster and Holyrood to take urgent action to help Scotland's "lost generation" find jobs.

The unemployment rate among 16 to 24-year-olds in Scotland hit 100,000 for the first time, while that for the UK also hit a record, pushing through the one million barrier.

The increase means under-25s now account for almost half of Scotland’s jobless total, which, from July to September, rose by 5000 to 215,000, a rate of 8%.

Across the UK, total unemployment jumped by 129,000 in the third quarter to stand at 2.62 million, the worst figure since 1994 and a rate of 8.3%.

Youth unemployment rose 67,000 to 1.02 million, a rate of 22%, slightly less than the rate north of the Border.

The figures were released as British Gas, mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan and the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks added to the gloom with separate announcements of almost 1700 job cuts.

The Bank of England presented a bleak economic future, downgrading its growth forecast to just 1% for 2011 and 2012. Sir Mervyn King, the Governor, warned the eurozone debt crisis was now the “single biggest risk” to Britain’s recovery.

UK Government ministers also pointed to the Continent as the cause of growing instability, which had sapped business confidence and boosted unemployment levels.

Chris Grayling, the Employment Minister, said: “These figures show just how much our economy is being affected by the crisis in the eurozone. Our European partners must take urgent action to stabilise the position.”

However, this did not wash with Ed Miliband, who said the latest set of statistics made it a “terrible day” for the country. The Labour leader added: “Instead of blaming everyone else and trying to find excuses in the eurozone, the Government should recognise that the British economy has been flatlining for a year -- long before this recent crisis began.

“David Cameron needs to start listening, take some responsibility and change course. The Government should adopt Labour’s five-point plan for jobs and growth, showing it can take action to get our economy moving again and, most of all, get young people back to work.”

He added: “If the Government fails to do that and sticks to a plan that is hurting but not working, it will prove it is totally out of touch.”

Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, echoed the point, saying: “It is an insult to the intelligence of the Scottish people for Coalition ministers to blame rising unemployment on the eurozone crisis. It was their irresponsible and ideologically motivated decision to strip demand from a fragile economy that hugely exacerbated labour market weakness.”

John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, described the youth unemployment figures as “truly shocking” and urged the Government to “wake up and take action to turn this around”.

At Westminster, Michael Moore insisted the latest statistics were “a stark reminder” there could be no let-up in the Coalition’s efforts to get the economy back to full health and people back to work as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Secretary also pointed towards Europe, saying: “The urgency of protecting the UK economy has never been clearer as we witness events in the eurozone. It is essential we keep working towards securing strong and sustainable growth for the long term.”

But Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney repeated his call for a Plan MacB from Whitehall, noting how the labour market in Scotland “continues to outperform the UK as a whole with lower unemployment, higher employment and lower economic inactivity rates”.

He called on Mr Cameron to “deliver real action” by increasing capital expenditure, improving access to business finance and introducing measures to boost economic confidence and income security.

Margaret Curran, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said Scotland was “in the grip of an unemployment crisis” and called for action from both governments.