BANGKOK (ILO News) –The number of people unemployed worldwide remained at an historic high in 2006, despite strong global economic growth, the International Labour Office (ILO) said in its annual Global Employment Trends, released today.

In South-East Asia and the Pacific[1] the effects of the Asian financial crisis continue to be felt. Over the last decade the region has experienced lower GDP growth and higher unemployment than both South Asia and East Asia .  

In 2006[2]  the region’s GDP expanded by 5.4 per cent, compared to 9.2 per cent in East Asia and 7.9 per cent in South Asia . Unemployment rose considerably, from 3.7 per cent in 1996 to 6.6 per cent in 2005. While no further increase was seen in 2006, this is still significantly higher than in East Asia and South Asia , where the 2006 unemployment rates were 3.6 and 5.2 per cent respectively.

At the same time in the past decade South-East Asia and the Pacific has also had to cope with the highest annual labour force growth rate –  2.2 per cent per year on average.

These factors, combined with poor labour market performance, have led to a deteoriation in living standards in many Pacific Island states.

While some economies have still not fully recovered from the Asian financial crisis, others are struggling with the shift from centrally organized economies to private markets.  The redundancy of many former state sector employees has increased pressure for private sector job creation, at the same time as the post-crisis period adversely affected private investment.

These factors have created a growing decent work deficit which is adversely affecting efforts to reduce poverty further. If the region is to tackle this, progress on five key issues will be crucial:-.

·   Finding a balance between productivity growth and the creation of decent jobs
·  Promoting decent jobs for young people
·  Managing labour migration
·   Reforming the governance of labour markets
·  Extending social protection

“The strong economic growth of the last half decade has had only a slight impact on reducing poverty.  Even when women and men continue to work - and work very hard - they often do not earn enough to escape poverty,” said Linda Wirth, Director of the ILO Sub-regional Office for South-East Asia and the Pacific, based in Manila .  “The greatest challenge is to create decent and productive jobs, not just any jobs to reduce poverty and slash the number of working families but still living in poverty”. 

Looking at the global picture the report says that to maintain or cut unemployment the link between growth and jobs must be reinforced. It says the creation of decent and productive jobs—not just any jobs— is a prerequisite for reducing unemployment and slashing the number of families working but still living in poverty. This in turn is a precondition for future development and economic growth.

Other findings include:           

·  In most regions unemployment rates did not change markedly between 2005 and 2006.
·  For the last decade economic growth has been reflected more in rising levels of productivity and less in growing employment. While world productivity increased by 26 per cent since 1996, the global number of those in employment rose by only 16.6 per cent.
·  Unemployment hit young people (aged 15 to 24) the hardest, with 86.3 million young people representing 44 per cent of the world's total unemployed in 2006.
·  The employment gap between women and men persists. In 2006 only 48.9 per cent of women aged 15+ were working compared to 49.6 per cent in 1996. The comparable male employment-to-population ratios were 75.7 in 1996 and 74.0 in 2006.
·   In 2006, the service sector’s share of global employment overtook agriculture for the first time, increasing from 39.5 per cent to 40 per cent. Agriculture decreased from 39.7 per cent to 38.7 per cent. The industry sector accounted for 21.3 per cent of total employment.

 “Every region has to face major labour market challenges,” the ILO report concludes.  “Young people have more difficulties in labour markets than adults; women do not get the same opportunities as men, the lack of decent work is still high; and the potential a population has to offer is not always used because of a lack of human capital development or a mismatch between the supply and the demand side in labour markets.”

“Nowadays the widespread conviction is that decent work is the only sustainable way to reduce poverty, which is why the target of ‘full, productive and decent employment’ will be a new target within the Millennium Development Goals in 2007. Therefore it is now the time for governments as well as the international community to make sure that the favourable economic conditions in most parts of the world will be translated into decent job growth,” the report concludes.

For more information please contact:

Sophy Fisher
Regional Information Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Tel: +662 288 2482

Krisdaporn Singhaseni
Information Officer – ILO Bangkok
Tel: +66 (0) 2288 1664