Some 4.5 million jobs missing to recover in Latin America from the rawest moment of the pandemic by covid-19. This was warned by World Labor Organization (ILO) in the presentation of its most recent report of the labor market for 2021.
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Although the economies of the region had a marked economic recovery in 2021, according to the report, this would be “insufficient” given the magnitude of the shock. Two years later, the region faces “a situation of high unemployment and the prospect of an increase in informality”.
In this sense, it is highlighted that of the 49 million jobs that had been lost at the worst moment of the crisis, 4.5 million still need to be recovered.
“The employment outlook is uncertain, the persistence of contagion from the pandemic and the prospect of mediocre economic growth this year could prolong the employment crisis until 2023 or even 2024”, said Vinícius Pinheiro, ILO Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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“An employment crisis that is too long is worrying because it generates discouragement and frustration, which in turn has repercussions on social stability and governancePinheiro added.
In Latin America, 49 million jobs were lost at the worst moment of the crisis.
Oscar Berrocal. Archive THE TIME
Currently, the region has an average rate of regional unemployment 9.6%, a slight improvement from 10.6% in 2020, but a recoil when compared to 8% in 2019.
(See: The employment outlook in Colombia in 2021, according to salary range).
Thus, with an average economic growth below 2%, “it will take longer for the region to emerge from the covid-19 crisis”. In this sense, the ILO forecasts an unemployment rate that could drop slightly between 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points, but remaining above 9%.
“This would be insufficient to return to 2019 figures when, in any case, the labor market situation was far from positive in a region that was already trapped in a scenario of slow growth, with low productivity and high levels of informality and inequality.”, was added in the report.
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