GENEVA: The United Nations announced on Wednesday that the global unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly in 2024, expressing concerns about sluggish productivity, worsening inequalities, and the impact of inflation on disposable income.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN’s labor agency, highlighted that the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down. Persistent geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures, leading to aggressive actions by central banks, are contributing factors.
While global growth in 2023 exceeded expectations modestly, the labor markets demonstrated surprising resilience, according to the ILO. However, real wages declined in most G20 countries, failing to keep pace with inflation.
In 2022, the global unemployment rate was at 5.3 percent, showing a slight improvement to 5.1 percent in the following year. However, the ILO predicts an additional two million workers seeking jobs in 2024, pushing the global unemployment rate to 5.2 percent.
Increase in Global Unemployment to Cause Inequalities
The report emphasized that disposable incomes have decreased in the majority of G20 nations. The erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is expected to continue, with slow compensation.
The World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report for 2024 by the ILO identified widening inequalities and stagnant productivity as major concerns. Only China, Russia, and Mexico experienced positive real wage growth in 2023, while other G20 countries witnessed declines, with Brazil (6.9 percent), Italy (five percent), and Indonesia (3.5 percent) facing the sharpest drops.
ILO Chief Gilbert Houngbo acknowledged encouraging data on growth and unemployment but cautioned that labor market imbalances are growing. In the context of multiple global crises, progress towards greater social justice is eroding, he said. Houngbo emphasized that sustainable recovery is dependent on achieving greater social justice.
