NEW! Released 28 May 2009
GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS - UPDATE
May 2009

The report on Global Employment Trends released in January of this year assessed the impact of the financial crisis and the slowdown in world economic growth on jobs. Economic growth projections have since been revised sharply downward and new national labour market data have become available. Accordingly, this report has been prepared to provide an update to the ILO’s previous scenarios on the impact of the crisis on unemployment, working poverty, vulnerable employment and labour productivity.

The report finds that global unemployment could increase to a range of 210 million to 239 million in 2009, an increase of between 29 million to 59 million since 2007. Although the projected spike in the level of unemployment is a major global challenge, the potential increase in vulnerable employment is even more alarming. It is estimated that half of the global workforce – 7 times more than the number of unemployed – are likely to be in vulnerable employment this year, highlighting the urgent need for policies to address the substantial decent work deficits that are likely to grow even larger as the crisis unfolds.

Global output per worker is expected to decline by between 1.3 per cent and 2.3 per cent this year, which raises concerns given the strong link between labour productivity and working poverty. The highest scenario is that more than 1.4 billion workers will be living below the USD 2 poverty line in 2009, an increase of more than 200 million since 2007. Across all three scenarios, the number of working poor projected to grow in 2009.

GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR WOMEN
March 2009

The Global Employment Trends 2009 examined the most current information available in order to assess the impact of the financial crisis and slowdown in world economic growth on jobs and what we could expect from several possible scenarios for the way the situation might evolve in the year ahead. This issue of the Global Employment Trends for Women looks at the gender aspects of this impact, and updates indicators on the situation of women in labour markets around the world.

This report reconfirms that gender inequality remains an issue within labour markets globally. Women suffer multiple disadvantages in terms of access to labour markets, and often do not have the same level of freedom as men to choose to work. Gender differences in labour force participation rates and unemployment rates are a persistent feature of global labour markets. In 2008, an estimated 6.3 per cent of the world’s female labour force was not working but looking for work, up from 6.0 per cent in 2007, while the corresponding rate for males was 5.9 per cent in 2008, up from 5.5 per cent in 2007.

This issue of Global Employment Trends for Women starts with an analysis of recent labour market developments based on currently available information in Section 2. Section 3 looks at the gender impact of the economic crisis in developed economies, followed by the projection of labour market indicators for 2008 and 2009 in Section 4. A final Section 5 concludes, and highlights a number of policy considerations.

GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
January 2009

The global financial crisis has triggered a serious slowdown in world economic growth including recession in the largest industrialized countries. Enterprises have stopped hiring and many are laying off workers in considerable numbers. This report examines what we know already about the impact of the crisis on jobs and what we could expect from several possible scenarios of the way it might evolve in the year ahead.

The assessment in this issue of Global Employment Trends is based on an analysis of labour market data that are available to date. This is still limited for the majority of countries and as more information becomes available it will be important to review the scale and pace of trends. Alternative scenarios for selected labour market indicators in 2008 and 2009 illustrate what might happen in labour markets if currently available economic forecasts are further revised downwards as seems likely.

This report starts with an overview of economic events that are shaping labour market outcomes. Thereafter, an analysis of recent labour market developments is presented based on currently available information. A separate section is dedicated to the projections of labour market indicators for 2008 and 2009. A final section concludes, and highlights a number of policy considerations.

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