SA among top 10 with highest unemployment

Davos - Unemployment is still rising even though six years have
passed since the start of the global financial crisis, the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Tuesday in
Geneva.
Some 201 million people were jobless around the world last
year, and the number would increase by 3 million this year and
by a further 8 million in the following four years, the UN labour
body predicted.
According to the ILO's projection, the ten countries with the
highest projected unemployment rates for 2015 are: Mauritania
(30.9%), Reunion (29.4%), Macedonia (28.2%), Bosnia (27.5%),
Guadeloupe (25.8%), Lesotho (25.7%), Palestinian territories
(25.3%), South Africa (25%), Greece (24.6%) and Spain (23.6%).
"This means the jobs crisis is far from over so there is no place
for complacency," ILO director general Guy Ryder said, adding
that more than 61 million jobs had been lost since 2008.
While the situation has improved in the United States, Japan
and some European countries, the job market remains tight in
other regions including Southern Europe, according to the ILO's
annual outlook.
It was published ahead of the World Economic Forum meeting
of politicians, UN agency chiefs, central bankers and business
leaders that starts on Wednesday in the Swiss ski resort of
Davos.
The main reason for the prolonged rise in unemployment was
that hardly any country had reached pre-crisis growth levels,
ILO said.
Unemployment around the world in 2015:
Credit: ILO (See the full interactive map here)
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Inequalities hurt consumer demand
Widening income inequalities hurt consumer demand and
slowed down economic growth, its experts said in the report.
They noted that up to 40% of total global income is being
earned by the richest 10%, while the poorest 10% account for
only 2% of the total.
Growing wage gaps, combined with rising youth unemployment
and decreasing trust in government around the world, can
contribute to social unrest, according to ILO.
Since 2009, social protests have become more frequent in the
Middle East and North Africa, as well as in parts of Eastern
Europe, former Soviet countries and in South Asia.
On a positive note, ILO reported that more than a third of
employees in developing countries belong to the middle class.