Summer statement: Rishi Sunak plans temporary job creation scheme for under-25s

Six-month placements aim to help those hardest hit by the Covid-19 lockdown

• Summer statement - the key announcements
• Coronavirus - latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Rishi Sunak will respond to growing fears of a surge in youth unemployment from Britain's pandemic-scarred economy on Wednesday with a 2bn temporary job creation scheme for the under-25s.

Amid evidence that the fallout from the Covid-19-enforced lockdown has hit vulnerable young workers harder than other age groups, the chancellor will use his summer statement to announce that the government will fund six-month job placements for an estimated 350,000 18 to 24-year-olds.

Related: Rishi Sunak's mini-budget will be the most leftwing in years. Can Labour capitalise? | Larry Elliott