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NEW! Released 30 October 2006
GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
FOR YOUTH 2006
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Press release:
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Young women and men are among the world’s greatest assets. They bring energy, talent and creativity to economies and create the foundations
for future development. But today’s youth also represent a group with serious vulnerabilities in the world of work. In recent years slowing
global employment growth and increasing unemployment, underemployment and disillusionment have hit young people the hardest. As a result,
today’s youth are faced with a growing deficit of decent work opportunities and high levels of economic and social uncertainty.
This report adds to growing evidence of a global situation in which young people face increasing difficulties when entering the labour force.
One of the principal findings of the report is that a global deficit of decent work opportunities has resulted in a situation in which one
out of three youth in the world is either seeking but unable to find work (the unemployed), has given up on the job search entirely
(the discouraged) or is working but still living below the US$2 a day poverty line (the working poor). This second version of the GET
Youth (see also GET Youth 2004) updates the key world and regional youth labour market indicators, but offers original research as well,
including a careful estimation of the number and share of youth who work but are living in households of less than US$1 or 2 a day (the
so-called youth working poor). The working poor youth estimate can serve as a proxy for income-related underemployment and therefore fits
nicely within the framework presented in the report for identifying youth who are most at risk to suffering from degrees of exclusion from
decent work and therefore a framework for identifying whom would benefit most from targeted interventions.
Without the right foothold from which to start out right in the labour market, young people are less able to make choices that will improve
their own job prospects and those of their future dependents. This, in turn, perpetuates the cycle of insufficient education, low-productivity
employment and working poverty from one generation to the next. The report, therefore, adds urgency to the UN call for development of
strategies aimed to give young people a chance to make the most of their productive potential through decent employment.
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GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
BRIEF January 2006
Released 24 January 2006
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Press release:
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Video clip:
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Despite robust GDP growth in 2005, labour market performance worldwide was mixed, with more people in work
than in 2004 but at the same time more unemployed people than the year before. Overall the global unemployment
rate remained unchanged at 6.3 per cent after 2 successive years of decline. At the end of 2005, 2.85 billion
people aged 15 and older were in work, up 1.5 per cent over the previous year, and up 16.5 per cent since 1995.
Given that unemployment is just the tip of the iceberg, the focus in developing economies should not be solely
based on unemployment alone, but also on the conditions of work of those who are employed. In 2005, of the over
2.8 billion workers in the world, nearly 1.4 billion still did not earn enough to lift themselves and their
families above the US$2 a day poverty line – just as many as ten years ago. Among these working poor, 520
million lived with their families in extreme poverty on less than US$1 a day. Even though this is less than
ten years ago it still means that nearly every fifth worker in the world has to face the almost impossible
situation of surviving with less than US$1 a day for each family member.
This brief updates the labour market trends to 2005 and addresses six key labour market challenges: 1) energy
prices; 2) the importance of labour market recovery after natural disasters; 3) the impact of the phasing out
of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA); 4) global wage inequalities; 5) sectoral employment shifts; and 6) labour
market challenges as a result of migration.
Changes in labour markets require constant monitoring so that appropriate policy interventions to support workers
and businesses can be applied. The ILO’s annual Global Employment Trends publications aim to provide those concerned
with the promotion of decent work for all with some of the basic information needed to continue to improve and target
policies.
Video clip:
ILO Director-General attends World Economic Forum in Davos - Duration: 5 min. 7 sec. (12.65 MB)
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia speaks to CNN's Todd Benjamin at the World Economic Forum in Davos
about global unemployment.
CNN "Business International" - 25 January 2006
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