Global job losses could hit 51M

World unemployment rate to touch 7.1% in 2009

As many as 51 million jobs worldwide could be lost this year because of
the global economic crisis, says the International Labour Organisation
(ILO).
The UN agency says that would push up the world’s unemployment rate to
7.1% by the end of 2009, compared with 6.0% in 2008 and 5.7% in 2007.
The ILO’s most optimistic forecast is for 18 million more unemployed,
giving a global jobless rate of 6.1%.
It says developing countries will suffer most from additional job losses.
‘If the recession deepens in 2009, as many forecasters expect, the global
jobs crisis will worsen sharply,’ the ILO said.
The International Monetary Fund is expected to cut its forecast for world
economic growth and predict a deeper than expected recession in the
developed nations.
Despite painting both its best and worst jobs scenarios, the ILO said
realistically 30 million more people could lose their jobs, pushing the
global unemployment rate to 6.5%.
This week US construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar has
taken steps to cut about 20,000 jobs, Home Depot is shedding 7,000 jobs,
and other firms such as ING and Philips are also axing posts.
We are now facing a global jobs crisis,” said ILO director-general,
Juan Somavia in the ILO’s Global Employment Trends 2009 report.

“Many governments are aware and acting, but more decisive and
coordinated international action is needed to avert a global social
recession. “Progress in poverty reduction is unravelling and middle
classes worldwide are weakening.”
He called on the upcoming meeting of the G20 in early April in London
to urgently agree on priority measures to promote productive investments
and “decent” work and social protection objectives.

According to ILO estimates, North Africa and the Middle East had the
highest unemployment rates at the end of 2008, of 10.3% and 9.4%.
Central and soulh-east Europe, as well as the former Soviet Union
countries, ended last year with a jobless rate of 8.8%.
We can expect that for many of those who manage to keep a job, earnings
and other conditions of employment will deteriorate.
In sub-Saharan Africa the unemployment rate was 7.9%, while in
Latin America it stood at 7.3%.
According to the ILOs study, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia stand out
as regions with extremely harsh labour market conditions and with the
highest shares of working poor of all regions.

“Although the trend has been declining over the past ten years, around
four fifths of the employed were still classified as working poor in
these regions in 2007,’ the report said.
Most job creation in 2008 came from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and
East Asia — with the three regions accounting for more than half the
jobs (57%) created during the year.
The world’s lowest unemployment rate was to be found in East Asia,
with a jobless rate of 3.8%.
That was followed by South Asia (5.4%) and Southeast Asia &
the Pacific (5.7%).