Trade and Employment in the Global Crisis

What began as a financial crisis in industrialized countries has rapidly become a global jobs crisis. Trade and FDI are two of the main channels through which the financial crisis has been transmitted to developing and transition economies.

In this context, the ILO has conducted a range of country level studies to evaluate the employment impact of changes in trade and FDI flows during the global crisis and at providing policy guidance to policy makers on how to address those impacts.

Relevant work has been conducted in the following countries: Brazil, Egypt, India, Liberia, South Africa, Uganda and Ukraine. The findings of this country level work are summarized in a publication co-published with Academic Foundation: “Trade and Employment in the Global Crisis”.

Key topics covered include: how changes in trade flows affect the labour market, the role of price volatility and demand shocks in the recent crisis and how export concentration makes countries more vulnerable.