50 million could be jobless: ILO

NEW YORK: Two years of global financial and economic meltdown could leave over 50 million more people unemployed by the end of 2009, risking social unrest, the International Labour Organization warned.New estimates indicate that "global unemployment in 2009 could increase over 2007 by a range of 18 million to 30 million workers, and more than 50 million if the situation continues to deteriorate," the ILO said in a statement.That could raise the world's jobless total to 198 million, or 230 million people in the worst case scenario, according to the figures in the ILO's report, "Global Employment Trends 2009".In 2007, some 179 million people were out of work, according to the report.Officials were more inclined to a middle range scenario of 30 million job losses for 2007-2009, raising the worldwide unemployment tally to 210 million. That could propel the global unemployment rate to an average of 6.5 per cent, or 7.1 per cent in the worst case, for this year, against 5.7 percent in 2007.
The report indicated that 190 million people were jobless by the end of 2008 after 11 million jobs were shed around the world last year alone, based on a combination of official national data and estimates. The ILO figures indicated that developed economies would be hit the hardest with the fastest rise in unemployment rates, from an average of 5.7 per cent in 2007 up to 6.6-7.9 percent in 2009.The report estimated that last year the developed economies and European Union failed to create jobs in 2008, while unemployment picked up sharply to 6.2 per cent, ending five consecutive years of decline.But East Asia, which had the lowest regional unemployment rate at 3.5 per cent in 2007, was forecast to experience a jump to 4.5-5.5 percent in a year.
The crisis could also push another 200 million workers into extreme poverty as they eke out a living in informal, underpaid and unstable work, especially in Africa and South Asia, the ILO predicted.