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ILO projects rise amid global unemployment in 2016-2017
Cumberland Packing Corp
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Cumberland Packing Corp. employees and union representatives chant slogans during a protest of Cumberland's closure in New York, Jan. 12. (AP/Mary Altaffer) (AP/Mary Altaffer)
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span class="inline inline-center">Cumberland Packing Corp. employees and union representatives chant slogans during a protest of Cumberland's closure in New York, Jan. 12. (AP/Mary Altaffer)
The current global job crisis is unlikely to end, especially in emerging economies, despite falling unemployment levels in some developed economies, a new ILO analysis reveals.
The UN body warns in its World Employment and Social Outlook-Trends 2016 (WESO) that continuing high rates of unemployment worldwide and chronic vulnerable employment in many emerging and developing economies will continue to deeply affect world employment.
The outlook reveals that global unemployment is forecast to reach 199.4 million, rising by about 2.3 million from the final figure of unemployment in 2015, which is estimated to stand at 197.1 million. There will be an additional 1.1 million unemployed people in 2017, it further says.
'The significant slowdown in emerging economies coupled with a sharp decline in commodity prices is having a dramatic effect on the world of work,' ILO director general Guy Ryder said on Wednesday.
He said many working women and men have had to accept low-paying jobs both in emerging and developing economies, as well as increasingly in developed countries. Despite a drop in the number of unemployed people in some EU countries and the US, too many people were still jobless, he went on.
'We need to take urgent action to boost the number of decent work opportunities or we risk intensified social tensions,' said Ryder.
In 2015, total global unemployment stood at 197.1 million, or 27 million higher than the pre-crisis level of 2007.
The outlook further said the unemployment rate for developed economies decreased to 6.7 percent in 2015 from 7.1 percent in 2014. In most cases, these improvements were not sufficient to eliminate the job gaps that emerged as a result of the global financial crisis, however.
It further says the employment outlook has now weakened in emerging and developing economies, notably in Brazil, China and oil-producing countries.
'The unstable economic environment associated with volatile capital flows, still dysfunctional financial markets and the shortage of global demand continue to affect enterprises and deter investment and job creation,' ILO research department director Raymond Torres said, adding that policy-makers needed to focus more on strengthening employment policies and tackling excessive inequalities. (ebf)
