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Although Latin America and the Caribbean reduced their unemployment rate from 8.7%, registered in the first quarter of 2021, to 7.9% in the same period this year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) assured that the outlook inflation in the region, fueled by the complications of the war in Ukraine, may cause informality to increase, as well as the quality of work.
Latin America reported recovery figures in the employment sector after the period of recession due to the Covid-19 pandemic; but, although the percentage of unemployment recovered by 0.8 percentage points, most of the jobs recovered were given under informal conditionswhich affects one in two people according to ILO reports.
“It is estimated that between 50 and 80% of jobs recovered in 2022 are in informal conditions. The current crisis, due to the upward inflationary trend, can further increase labor informality,” said Claudia Coenjaerts, the interim regional director of ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean.
But not only was unemployment at pre-pandemic levels, the employment rate in the first three months of 2022 was 57.2% compared to 57.6 in 2019 and the labor force participation rate was 62.1%. , compared to 63.1% three years ago.
The ILO report specifies that “the lack of economic dynamism began to be noticed at the beginning of 2022 with incipient signs of a decline in the average labor indicators in the region, which had been improving continuously for several months”, but also explains that in 10 of the 14 countries the employment rate in the first quarter of 2022 had not reached the levels of 2019, as did the unemployment figure.
Inflation, a challenge to improve working conditions
The international entity for work recommended that the governments of the region focus on creating more formal jobs to combat the presence of those not regulated by law. They propose that the conditions in the student sector improve so that there is more and better professional training and the strengthening of the minimum wage.
“It is crucial that countries put in place a mix of policies to deal with deteriorating labor markets. The loss of labor income gives rise to the phenomenon of the working poor” declares the report, which means that despite the fact that people have jobs they continue in a situation of poverty, “even having formal jobs”.
Much of the blame for this phenomenon is inflation. The ILO reported that in 9 of the 14 countries analyzed there had been a drop in purchasing power and minimum and average wages in the face of rising inflation.
This means that the identification of difficulties in the labor sector must be evaluated taking into account the local situation of each country, as well as possible solutions and implementation of public policies.
With EFE and local media.
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