The United Nations has stated that the global unemployment rate will increase slightly in 2024.
International Labour Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency, announced this on Wednesday as it expressed concern over slow productivity, growing inequality, and inflation eroding disposable income.
It highlighted that the economic recovery from the Covid-19 outbreak had slowed down, with persisting geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation prompting central banks to act aggressively.
According to the ILO, global growth in 2023 will be slightly greater than predicted, and labour markets will show unexpected resilience.
However, it said that real earnings fell in the majority of G20 countries as wage increases failed to keep pace with inflation.
The global unemployment rate in 2022 was 5.3 per cent in 2018, with a slight improvement to 5.1 per cent last year.
Meanwhile, an additional two million workers are predicted to be seeking work in 2024, boosting the worldwide unemployment rate to 5.2 per cent.
The majority of G20 countries’ disposable incomes have fallen, and the ILO believes that the degradation of living standards caused by inflation is “unlikely to be compensated quickly.”
Widening inequality and sluggish productivity are causes for concern, according to the International Labour Organization’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report for 2024.
The study examines the most recent labour market developments, such as unemployment, job creation, labour force participation, and hours worked, and then connects these to their societal consequences.
According to the ILO chief Gilbert Houngbo, the assessment indicated that parts of the data, particularly on growth and unemployment, are “encouraging.”
Houngbo went on to say that a “deeper analysis reveals that labour market imbalances are growing and that, in the context of multiple and interacting global crises, this is eroding progress towards greater social justice.”
According to the research, only China, Russia, and Mexico will have “positive real wage growth in 2023.”
Other G20 countries’ real wages declined, with Brazil losing 6.9 per cent, Italy losing 5%, and Indonesia losing 3.5 per cent.
“Falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve social justice,” Houngbo said in a statement.
He added that “without greater social justice, we will never have a sustainable recovery.”
