Un Expects Unemployment Crisis To Continue And Worsen

[News_Editor]

UN expects unemployment crisis to continue and worsen < br /> 2012-05-01 07:47:51 GMT+7 (ICT) NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A report released by the United Nations (UN) on Monday warns that the difficult global unemployment crisis is not expected to recover anytime soon. The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) published the report, titled "World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy", detailing that around 50 million jobs are still missing compared to the situation that existed before the global economic crisis.The report noted that employment rates have only increased in six of the 36 advanced economies since 2007 - Austria, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland - and that youth unemployment rates have increased in about 80 percent of advanced countries and two-thirds of developing countries.The report warns the global jobs crisis is likely to get worse as many governments, especially those in advanced economies, have shifted their priority to a combination of fiscal austerity and tough labor market reforms. This could lead to yet another recession in Europe.Director of the ILO Institute for International Labor Studies and lead author of the report, Raymond Torres, stated that "the narrow focus of many Eurozone countries on fiscal austerity is deepening the jobs crisis and could even lead to another recession in Europe.""Countries that have chosen job-centered macroeconomic policies have achieved better economic and social outcomes," Torres added. "Many of them have also become more competitive and have weathered the crisis better than those that followed the austerity path. We can look carefully at the experience of those countries and draw lessons."According to the report, many jobseekers in advanced economies are demoralized and are losing skills, something which is affecting their chances of finding a new job. In addition, small companies have limited access to credit, which in turn is depressing investment and preventing employment creation.The ILO said that without a 'dramatic' shift in policy direction in those countries with advanced economies, especially in Europe, job recovery is not expected before the end of 2016. Other factors signaled in the report include the fact that, in most advanced economies, many of the new jobs are precarious and there exists the possibility of increased social unrest in many parts of the world. However, some two million jobs could be created over the next year in advanced economies, the report argued, if a job-friendly policy-mix of taxation and increased expenditure in public investment and social benefits is put in place.In the report's Social Unrest Index, 57 out of 106 countries with available information showed a risk of increased social unrest in 2011 compared to 2010. The regions with the largest increases are sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa.

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