Global unemployment to increase in 2024, warns ILO report – Saudi Gazette

Global unemployment to increase in 2024, warns ILO report – Saudi Gazette

GENEVA — Global unemployment is expected to rise this year, with growing inequality and stagnant productivity also a cause for concern on the economic horizon, the UN labor agency ILO said on Wednesday.Just over five percent of the world’s workforce is without a job, according to the International Labor Organization’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2024 report.This is a better situation than before the pandemic, but it isn’t set to last, as an extra two million people are expected to be looking for a job over the next 12 months, the ILO said.The UN agency’s findings chime with a new World Bank report released on Tuesday indicating that the global economy is on track for the slowest half-decade of growth in 30 years.In addition to the uncertain jobs market outlook, ILO noted that the majority of the world’s richest nations had seen living standards eroded, because of inflation, which is now in decline in many major economies.The erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is, “unlikely to be compensated quickly”, said the UN agency.Big disparitiesILO experts underscore that there are significant differences between higher and lower income countries.While the jobs gap rate (the number of jobless who are looking