Global unemployment outlook gloomy, warns ILO

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/apr/30/global-unemployment-outlook-gloomy-ilo



Global unemployment fears – youth groups in Madrid protest against Spain's high jobless rate and government austerity measures. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters


Unemployment has risen in two-thirds of European countries since 2010 as austerity hit growth and jobs, the International Labour Organisation has said.

In its annual world of work report, the Geneva-based ILO warned that the weaknesses in the labour market were becoming ingrained, with high levels of long-term and youth unemployment.

The study found there were still 50 million fewer jobs in the global economy than before the recession began in 2008 and it was unlikely that growth would be strong enough in the next two years to find jobs for an extra 80 million people looking for work.

Raymond Torres, director of the International Institute for Labour Studies and author of the report, said: "This is not a normal employment slowdown. Four years into the global crisis, labour market imbalances are becoming more structural, and therefore more difficult to eradicate. Certain groups, such as the long-term unemployed, are at risk of exclusion from the labour market. This means they would be unable to obtain new employment even if there were a strong recovery."

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