The pandemic destroyed 125 million jobs
The International Labor Organization (ILO) assured that, with respect to the fourth quarter of 2019, the figure would have fallen by 4.3 %
The impact of the pandemic on the labor market will be more severe than initially estimated, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). It estimates 4.3 % of the hours worked lost worldwide in 2021 compared to the levels in the fourth quarter of 2019, which equates to the destruction of 125 million full-time jobs worldwide.
The ILO showed worse projections compared to last June, when it forecast the loss of 3.5 % of hours worked compared to the pre-pandemic level or the equivalent of the destruction of 100 million jobs full time.
These worse expectations reflect that the recovery of the global labor market after the adverse effects of the pandemic has stalled in 2021, registering “little progress since the fourth quarter of 2020“, which maintains the number of working hours in 2021 well below the last quarter of 2019.
According to ILO estimates, the deficit in hours worked globally compared to the one before the pandemic stood at -4.5 % in the first quarter of 2021, -4.8 % in the second quarter and the – 4.7 % for the third quarter.
However, the ILO emphasizes that the data hide wide differences between countries, since between July and September the decrease in hours worked in high-income countries was 3.6 % compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. While the difference in low-income countries was 5.7 % and in lower-middle-income countries was 7.3 %.
Source: dpa
