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News > Latin America

Alarming Level of Unemployment Affects Latin American Youth: ILO

  • The agency set out that at the end of 2019, unemployment in the region amounts to 8.1 percent, one tenth over the index registered in 2018.

    The agency set out that at the end of 2019, unemployment in the region amounts to 8.1 percent, one tenth over the index registered in 2018. | Photo: EFE

Published 29 January 2020
Opinion

According to the organization's annual report, this is the highest rate in a decade, and this situation may worsen in 2020 due to weak economic growth.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) expressed concern Tuesday over the alarming level of unemployment among youngsters in Latin America, where one out of five is lacking a job.

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Near a dozen million individuals from 15 to 21 seeking a workplace fail to find any, according to the report, marking the highest rate in a decade.

The ILO warned that the labor market in Latin America and the Caribbean is going through a general moment of uncertainty, also reflected in a rise in unemployment and hints of precariousness.

“The lack of decent work opportunities for young people causes great concern because it is a source of discouragement and frustration. This has been reflected in the front line of recent protests in the region, calling for changes to aim for a better future,” OIT Regional Director Juan Hunt said after releasing the report in Peru. 

It is a slight increase, but it still means that over 25 million people are actively seeking employment and are not getting it, stated the specialists who prepared the report.

Unemployment rose last year in nine of 14 Latin American countries included in the study, which estimates that the labor market faces a complex situation, and affected especially women with 10.2 percent as opposed to men - 7.3 percent.

In the opinion of the Regional Director of the ILO Juan Felipe Hunt, dynamics of economic slowdown observed since mid-2018 have impacted both the structure and the quality of jobs.

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