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The International Labour Organisation has said global unemployment levels and rates are expected to remain high in the short term, as the global labour force continues to grow amid weak economic growth. According to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2017 (WESO), released on Thursday, the global unemployment rate is expected to reach 5.8% in 2017, up from 5.7% in 2016.

The number of jobless people globally is forecast to increase by 3.4 million this year to a total of 201 million. The global unemployment figure is expected to further rise by 2.7 million in 2018 – as the pace of labour force growth outstrips job creation, the ILO said.

“We are facing the twin challenge of repairing the damage caused by the global economic and social crisis and creating quality jobs for the tens of millions of new labour market entrants every year,” said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder.
 
The ILO also said economic growth continues to disappoint and underperform. Global GDP growth hit a six-year low in 2016, at 3.1%. Looking ahead, global economic growth is expected to pick up modestly in 2017 (3.4%) and 2018 (3.6%). The disappointing economic performance in 2016 and the below-trend outlook for 2017 raise concerns for the global economy and its ability to generate enough jobs.

The authors of the report warned that global uncertainty and the lack of decent jobs are, among other factors, underpinning social unrest and migration in many parts of the world. ILO said between 2009 and 2016, the share of the working age population willing to migrate abroad has increased in almost every region of the world, except for Southern Asia, South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific. The largest rise took place in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Arab States.



The WSO report also paints a worrisome picture of persistently high levels of vulnerable forms of employment. Vulnerable forms of employment – i.e. contributing family workers and own account workers – are expected to stay above 42% of total employment, accounting for 1.4 billion people worldwide in 2017. Another key trend highlighted in the report is a slowdown in the reduction in working poverty, endangering the prospects of eradicating poverty as a key agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“In fact, almost one in two workers in emerging countries are in vulnerable forms of employment, rising to more than four in five workers in developing countries,” said Steven Tobin, ILO Senior Economist and lead author of the report.

Unemployment rate among developed countries is expected to fall in 2017 bringing their rate down to 6.2% (from 6.3%).

The authors of the report called for coordinated effort to provide fiscal stimulus and increased public investment to jump-start the global economy. They stated that such efforts, accompanied by international cooperation, can reduce global unemployment in 2018 by close to two million.

“Boosting economic growth in an equitable and inclusive manner requires a multi-facetted policy approach that addresses the underlying causes of secular stagnation, such as income inequality, while taking into account country specificities,” Tobin added.