Last year, the coronavirus pandemic took an immense toll on global employment, the United Nations said on Monday, with more than a quarter of a billion lost.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) of the United Nations found in a recent report that a full 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost in 2020 relative to the fourth quarter of 2019.
That is equal to 255 million full-time jobs, or ‘around four times the amount lost in the global financial crisis of 2009,’ the ILO said in a statement.
Global official unemployment increased by 1.1 percent, or 33 million more individuals, to a total of 220 million and last year to a global unemployment rate of 6.5 percent.
The UN Labor Agency clarified that for those remaining in jobs, about half of the work hours lost were estimated from decreased working hours. But last year, the world also saw “unprecedented levels of loss of employment,” it said.
Ryder emphasized that 81 million other individuals did not file as unemployed, but “just fell out of the labour market.”
“Perhaps because of pandemic restrictions or social obligations, they are either unable to work or they have given up looking for work,” he said.
The introduction of many safe and successful Covid-19 vaccines has given rise to expectations that the planet will soon be able to reign in the pandemic.
