The unemployment rate in the world should decrease slightly this year and stand at 4.9%, estimated Wednesday the International Labor Organization (ILO), which previously expected an increase in this rate compared to 2023.
The ILO previously estimated that the global unemployment rate would rise to 5.2% this year, from 5% in 2023.
But this small expected improvement should not make us forget that “inequalities in labor markets persist, with women in low-income countries being particularly affected”, underlined the ILO.
For 2025, the organization expects the unemployment rate to stabilize at 4.9%, according to its revised forecasts.
The ILO estimates that the “jobs gap” – which measures the number of people without a job but who want to work – will affect 402 million people this year. This figure includes 183 million people counted as unemployed.
“Despite our efforts to reduce inequality around the world, the labor market remains unequal, particularly for women,” ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said in a statement.
To “achieve a sustainable recovery whose benefits are shared by all, we must work on inclusive policies that take into account the needs of all workers,” he judged.
“We must place inclusion and social justice at the heart of our policies and institutions. Without this, we will not achieve our objective of ensuring strong and inclusive development,” he added.
Detailed figures from the ILO report show that women, particularly in low-income countries, are disproportionately affected by a lack of opportunities.
The employment gap for women in low-income countries reaches “a striking 22.8%, compared to 15.3% for men,” notes the ILO.
On the other hand, in high-income countries, this rate is 9.7% for women and 7.3% for men, she specifies.
But “these differences are only the “tip of the iceberg”, because women are significantly more numerous than men to be completely detached from the labor market,” reports the organization.
Globally, 45.6% of women of working age will be employed in 2024, compared to 69.2% of men, according to the ILO.