(11 June 2009) Urban unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean rose by 0.6% during the first quarter of 2009 with regard to the same period last year. This variation reflects the impact of the international crisis on labour markets in the region, stated ECLAC and ILO in a joint report.
The data collected in nine countries representing most of the region's economically active population indicates that by the end of March, regional unemployment reached 8.5%, rising from 7.9% during the first quarter of 2008. This meant that over a million people have joined the ranks of the unemployed.
"We are facing a scenario in which employment and labour data have become numbers behind which lie the real stories of millions of women and men for whom the future is now uncertain," states the first bulletin co-produced by ECLAC and ILO, Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Crisis and the Labour Market.
"The current situation reveals that employment levels are worsening," asserts the document.
In light of the prospects for economic growth in 2009, average annual urban unemployment rate will rise to 8.7%-9.1%, a significant increase in relation to the 7.5% in 2008, when the crisis put an end to a five-year "positive cycle" for the economies in the region, say the two organizations.
This will mean that between 2.8 and 3.9 million people may join the 15.9 million in urban areas who were already unemployed in 2008.
The bulletin Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean will be published periodically to reflect the impact of the crisis on employment and work conditions of the region's population. It may also be used as input in designing public policies to counteract the impact of the crisis.
Although unemployment is higher among women than men, says the publication, the economic deceleration has impacted more men than women during the first quarter of this year, particularly in the largest economies of the region.
Faced with the difficulty of finding salaried work, some segments of the economically active population may resort to informal activities from home or independent, low-productivity, low-income work as a way to subsist.
Similarly, the formal labour market is expected to tend towards more informal work contracts, as employers seek to reduce labour costs. This would lead to more precarious employment and less social protection.
In many low-income households, the crisis will probably lead family members who were not economically active to search for a job or begin some sort of labour activity, including children, teenagers, women and the elderly.
In mid- to high-income households, the crisis could encourage some family members to withdraw from the labour market until conditions improve. In several countries, participation in the labour market dropped during the first quarter of this year, restraining an even higher open unemployment rate.
If the crisis worsens, it may lead to a greater deficit in decent work, with adverse consequences on income and life conditions of the population, says the bulletin.
ECLAC and ILO acknowledge that the region is better prepared than in the past to address the impact of the crisis, and that governments have taken important steps in adopting countercyclical policies to mitigate its negative effects and stimulate aggregate demand. These measures, in general, are geared towards addressing the consequences on employment and salaries.
cepal.org
