The UK now has a worse record on youth unemployment than the EU, for the first time. It really does not seem fair. Nowhere in the UK is the problem more acute than in London, once a humming job-creation machine that sucked in young workers from all over the country and indeed much of Europe.

According to the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), 140 applicants applied for every graduate vacancy last year  a massive increase from 2003, when there were only 38 candidates for each entry level role.

The gruelling and dispiriting nature of the job search slog was revealed in testimonies to a recent report from the Trust for London on rising youth unemployment. As Stephanie, 23, from west London told the Trust’s researchers: “The process can be stressful and off-putting, especially with the many application stages and the financial pressures of attending in-person interviews while trying to budget as a recent graduate. Completing my final year and worrying about accommodation added another layer of stress.”