MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Record world unemployment stable in 185 million

World unemployment reached a new record in 2003, 185,9 million people according to the latest report from the International Labour Organization, ILO.

The 185,9 million represent 6,2% of the world active population, with a marginal increase over 2002 when it stood at 185,4 million.

The 2003 figure includes 108,1 million men, 600,000 more than last year, and 77,8 million women, a drop from the 77,9 million of 2002. The age group most vulnerable is 15/24 year totalling 88,2 million equivalent to a 14,4% unemployment for that segment.

ILO however is cautiously optimistic about 2004, since the world economy recovery of the second half of 2003 seems to have stopped the deterioration of the job market.

"It's too early to say the worst is over", said ILO Director Juan Somavia, adding that "our greatest fear is that if recovery dwindles and our hopes of more and better jobs are frustrated, many countries won't reach the 2015 objective of reducing poverty by half".

In 2003, unemployment in industrialized countries reached 6,8% and 9,2% in the "transition countries" (former Soviet republics). In the developing world, unemployment was 12,2% in the Middle East and North Africa; 10,9% in Sub-Saharan Africa; 8% in Latin America and the Caribbean; 6,3% in South East Asia; southern Asia 4,8% and 3,3% in East Asia.

ILO builds its statistics from information supplied by the different countries. Therefore in the case of China ILO does not include the 150 million peasants, technically unemployed which are not categorized as such by Beijing authorities.

Chinese data is not extensive either to the many redundancies in government managed companies, and therefore is assessed as 4% of the active urban population.