World heading for deeper job recession, says ILO

 Exploding: The World of Work Report 2011 said just 40 million or half of the 80 million jobs were likely to be created over the next two years.

New Delhi, Nov. 1: 

The developing world, including India, needs to create 53 million jobs in the next two years, of the 80 million required to attain pre-crisis employment rates, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Monday.

Warning that the world was heading towards a deeper job recession, Mr Raymond Torres, head of ILO's research institute said, “We estimate that for the next two years, the world economy would need 80 million jobs to bring the unemployment rate down to what it was before the crisis in 2007.”

The World of Work Report 2011, released on Monday, painted a gloomy picture of the world economy and said just 40 million or half of the 80 million jobs were likely to be created over the next two years.

“Most of those new jobs would be created in the developing world, while just 2.5 million would be created in advanced economies. As a result, industrialised countries would be short of 24.7 million jobs during 2012 and 2013,” it said.

In 45 countries of the 118 studied, “the risk of social unrest is rising”, especially in advanced economies, notably the European Union, the Arab world and to a lesser extent, Asia, it said.

FOOD INFLATION IN INDIA

The report says wholesale food prices in India rose by 40 per cent in the past two years, much more than during the mid-1990s and 2004. Retail food prices have increased faster.

“Rising food inflation has led to tightening of monetary policies, which has led to the slowdown in economic activity, especially [in] the last two quarters. This puts further pressure on the labour market, where there is huge underemployment,” it said.

Calling for universal access to basic food at affordable prices, the ILO said the proposed National Food Security Act was in the right direction, but for it to be effective the food storage and distribution system needs to be drastically improved.

People in 69 countries reported a worsening of living standards in 2010 compared to 2006 and respondents in half of the countries said they did not have confidence in their national governments.

The report comes at a time when protests such as Occupy Wall Street have been raging across Europe and the US against the financial system, which seen as bringing about the economic crisis leading to millions losing jobs.

Courtesy : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com