United Nations agency International Labour Organization (ILO) released its "ILO World Employment and Social Outlook-Trends 2015" report on Tuesday, in which it warned that the global jobless count will rise by 11 million over the next five-year period, with a slowdown in economic growth and turbulence cited as the underlying causes.
Speaking in Geneva, ILO's director, Guy Ryder, told reporters:
"The global economy is continuing to grow at tepid rates and that has clear consequences. . . . The global jobs gap due to the crisis stands at 61 million jobs worldwide."
Ryder referred to the world financial crisis of 2008 that was labeled the worst recession in 80 years after the Lehman Brothers global bank collapsed. According to analysts, the foundations of the world's financial system nearly crumbled, while enormous taxpayer-financed bail-outs were employed to rescue the seriously ailing industry. Ongoing repercussions of the crisis were reported in late 2013.
In accordance with the severity of the 2008 event, Ryder asserted that the employment crisis is "far from over" and warned against complacency. Even though improvements were registered in the U.S., Japan and U.K., problems in a number of developed economies on the European continent created a significant reason for concern.
According to the ILO report, an unemployment rise of 5 percent (currently at 4.7 percent) will eventuate in Germany over the next two years, while the rate of the eurozone's second-largest economy, France, could increase to just under 10 percent.
Ryder explained: "The austerity trajectory . . . in Europe in particular has contributed dramatically to increases in unemployment."
Latin America, Africa and the Arab world were also mentioned by the ILO, as major reductions in oil and gas prices would lead to dire consequences for the labor market.
In global terms, young people were documented as the worst hit, as the 15- to-24-year age range emerged with a 13-percent unemployment rate in 2014, which is nearly triple the rate for adults.