An annual report issued by the International Labor Organization says global unemployment is estimated to rise from the current 200 million to almost 208 million by 2015.

 

　　CRI's Wei Tong has more.

 

　　The annual World of Work Report is a comprehensive analysis of recent labor market and social trends.

 

　　It assesses risks of social unrest and presents employment projections for the years to come.

 

　　The recovery in employment for most emerging and developing countries has undergone a faster pace than advanced economies such as many of the eurozone nations.

 

　　The report also shows that investments in developing economies in 2012 only accounted for one third of the world's total amount, which resulted in loss of job opportunities.

 

　　Raymond Torres, the director for the International Institute for Labor Studies, explains.

 

　　"The first point from the report is that the recovery is very uneven both across countries and within countries. On the one hand, some emerging and developing countries like China, India, some Latin American countries, more recently sub-Saharan are growing again. Their employment performance has improved also. On the other hand, less good news is a majority of advanced economies as well as Arab countries are still struggling with crisis. Growth there is very little and sometimes negative. Some of them suffer very much recession, for example in southern Europe. In addition, unemployment not only remains high but in some countries is accelerating."

 

　　A continuous growth in global unemployment has been predicted in the years to come, with an estimated 208 million people expected to be without work by 2015.

 

　　The report also estimates a widening income inequality and the gap between rich and poor in most economies.

 

　　It's something that has led Raymond Torres to stress on the need to map out long-term strategies to help the crisis.

 

　　"Finally the third point is the long-term (measures). Much of the strategy until now has been short-term measures. To address the crisis, there is a long-term challenge to repair the economic and social fabric. From the economic point of view, profits have retrieved their pre-crisis situation profits of large enterprises. But investment is not picking up fast. There is a disconnection between profits and investments."

 

　　The report also addressed serious concerns over unemployment among the youth, which lead to further social instability.

 

　　"Youth unemployment is high and growing including in countries that is expanding fast, like Turkey, like China. In China, for example this year, the expectation is almost seven million young people will enter the labor market. The challenge is to provide jobs, good jobs, decent jobs to these people."

 

　　And it's a challenge expected to only grow further in stature, with the global unemployment figures expected to rise by 8 million in the next two years to 208 Million by 2015.

 

　　It shows that the unemplyment levels throughout the world have far from returned to pre-crisis levels.

 

　　And the uneven performances among the various countries and regions, leaves the possibility open of the problem only getting even worse, unless tackled head on.

 

　　For CRI, I am Wei Tong.