SA among top 10 with highest unemployment

Davos - Unemployment is still rising even though six years have passed since the start of the global financial crisis, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Tuesday in Geneva.

Some 201 million people were jobless around the world last year, and the number would increase by 3 million this year and by a further 8 million in the following four years, the UN labour body predicted.

According to the ILO's projection, the ten countries with the highest projected unemployment rates for 2015 are: Mauritania (30.9%), Reunion (29.4%), Macedonia (28.2%), Bosnia (27.5%), Guadeloupe (25.8%), Lesotho (25.7%), Palestinian territories (25.3%), South Africa (25%), Greece (24.6%) and Spain (23.6%).

"This means the jobs crisis is far from over so there is no place for complacency," ILO director general Guy Ryder said, adding that more than 61 million jobs had been lost since 2008.

While the situation has improved in the United States, Japan and some European countries, the job market remains tight in other regions including Southern Europe, according to the ILO's annual outlook.

It was published ahead of the World Economic Forum meeting of politicians, UN agency chiefs, central bankers and business leaders that starts on Wednesday in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

The main reason for the prolonged rise in unemployment was that hardly any country had reached pre-crisis growth levels, ILO said.

Unemployment around the world in 2015:


Credit: ILO (See the full interactive map here)

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Inequalities hurt consumer demand

Widening income inequalities hurt consumer demand and slowed down economic growth, its experts said in the report.

They noted that up to 40% of total global income is being earned by the richest 10%, while the poorest 10% account for only 2% of the total.

Growing wage gaps, combined with rising youth unemployment and decreasing trust in government around the world, can contribute to social unrest, according to ILO.

Since 2009, social protests have become more frequent in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in parts of Eastern Europe, former Soviet countries and in South Asia.

On a positive note, ILO reported that more than a third of employees in developing countries belong to the middle class.