In Progress

The recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports on the global and regional employment trends paint a stark picture of rapidly increasing unemployment in 2008 as a result of the global economic crisis. The situation is expected to worsen in 2009 with more massive job losses. Low income workers and the poor are already paying heavily for the economic crisis, with women being the hardest hit.

Global unemployment rates increased from 5.7 per cent in 2007 to six percent in 2008 of some 10.7 million people – the highest year on year increase since 1998. Unemployment rate for women is higher with 6.3 per cent compared to 5.8 per cent for men. Young people constitute much of the unemployed, with fewer work opportunities.