---------------------- Forwarded by Dennis Raphael/Atkinson on 02/10/2003 12:27
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Please respond to "Equidad,              Salud y Desarrollo.  Divisi



¾n de Salud
      y Desarrollo Humano (HDP)" <[log in to unmask]>
                                                              
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          Divisi¾n de Salud y Desarrollo Humano (HDP)"        
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 Subject: [EQ] ILO Report: GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS 2002      
                                                              










GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT TRENDS 2002



International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2002)



Available online as PDF file [118p.] at:

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/trends.pdf
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/trends.pdf>



"......This report estimates that the number of unemployed grew by  20
million since the beginning of 2001 to reach about 180 million at the end of
2002, and that the increase was most severe among women. In addition an
increasing number of young people entering the labour market were unable to
find jobs.



The report presents labour market trends and underlines the main employment
challenges at the global level in each of the eight regions of the world.



It states that part of the greatest increase in unemployment since the year
2000 has been in the industrialized countries, with a similar rise in
developing countries as well. This has been attributed to the inability of
the informal sector to absorb those who aren't able to find formal
employment.



On a more regional level, the report gives the following analysis:



- Latin America and the Caribbean: Unemployment increased in almost all of
Latin America and the Caribbean between 2001 and 2002, bringing the rate to
10% in 2002. The greatest challenge here is youth unemployment.



- South East Asia: The performance of individual countries varied, with a
rise in unemployment being detected in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Cambodia and Viet Nam benefited from improved access to markets in
industrial economies, while the agricultural sector also performed well in
LAO PDR and Cambodia.



- East Asia: A key feature here, was the emergence of open unemployment as
seen by rising youth unemployment. On the whole the region recorded
significantly lower output growth during the two year period, and the
employment situation deteriorated



- South Asia: The region's employment rate rose to 3.4 % in 2002 from 2.9%
in 1995. The unfavourable employment situation points to an increase in the
number of people with low incomes and poor working conditions in the
informal economy, as opposed to a sharp increase in unemployment rates.



- Sub Saharan Africa: The open unemployment rate increased from 13.7 % in
2000 to 14.4% in 2002. Major issues of concern here being the 'brain drain'
and the impact of HIV/ AIDS epidemic.



- Middle East and North Africa: GDP growth fell from over 6 % in 2000 to
1.5% in 2001. Major issues here were reforms resulting in the downsizing of
the government labour force,

and also policies to replace migrant workers with their nationals.



What are the implications of these trends in the overall poverty debate?

It has been argued that poverty itself inhibits employment growth. Pro-poor
policies are needed to help women and men secure productive and remunerative
work. Poverty reduction strategies ought to support the growth of small and
medium- sized enterprises, and their integration into the formal economy as
well as investment in health care and education...."

ELDIS POVERTY REPORTER, February 8, 2003



*    *    *    *



This message from the Division of Health and Human Development, PAHO/WHO, is
part of an effort to disseminate Information related to Equity, Gender,
Violence, Poverty, Health Economics, Health Legislation, Ethnicity, Ethics,
Information Technology, Virtual Libraries, Research & Science issues.

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