Global unemployment set to worsen in 2024: UN

AFP | Geneva                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The global unemployment rate will increase slightly in 2024, the United Nations said yesterday as it raised concerns about stagnant productivity, worsening inequalities and inflation biting into disposable income.

The UN’s labour agency said the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down, with ongoing geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation triggering aggressive moves by central banks. That said, global growth in 2023 was modestly higher than anticipated, and labour markets showed surprising resilience, the International Labour Organization said.

However, real wages declined in most of the G20 countries as wage increases failed to keep pace with inflation, said the ILO. The 2022 global unemployment rate stood at 5.3% and made a modest improvement last year to 5.1%.

However, in 2024 an extra two million workers are expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate to 5.2%. Disposable incomes have declined in the majority of G20 nations and, generally, the erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is “unlikely to be compensated quickly”, the ILO said. The report found that only China, Russia and Mexico “enjoyed positive real wage growth in 2023”.

Real wages fell in other G20 countries, with Brazil (6.9%), Italy (five%) and Indonesia (3.5%) experiencing the sharpest declines. “Falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve social justice,” said Houngbo. “And without greater social justice we will never have a sustainable recovery.”