ILO: Global unemployment expected to rise by 3.2m in 2014

The International Labor Organization (ILO) on Tuesday said in an annual report that global unemployment stood at just under 200 million in 2013 and is expected to rise by 3.2 million in 2014. The report, which provides an in-depth analysis for 140 developing and emerging nations, expected global unemployment to reach 213 million given current trends and policies by 2019. Global joblessness is projected to remain broadly at the current level of 6 percent until 2017, the report noted. According to the report, the highest unemployment rates in North Africa and the Middle East are expected to remain at 12.3 and 11.1 percent in 2014. The largest increase in 2014 is estimated in Central and South-Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries, where unemployment will reach 8.3 percent in 2014. It said 90 percent of jobs will be created in emerging and developing countries over the next five years due to the significant impact on migration flow. Meanwhile, the annual report discussed the importance of job quality amid somewhat positive global employment developments. It was reported that investing in quality jobs, reducing vulnerable employment and tackling working poverty leads to higher economic growth. It highlighted countries that invested the most in quality jobs from the early 2000s grew nearly 1 percent faster every year since 2007 than other developing and emerging economies. "Improving the quality of jobs is also essential to tackling underemployment of both youth and adults, which is a major economic problem in many emerging economies and developing countries," said Raymond Torres, director of the ILO research department, said in a statement.