Globalization at Work

• Author: Dorothea Schmidt
• Position: Economist at the International Labor Organization

The world economy has been expanding strongly, with widespread, healthy growth in both employment and labor productivity. But unemployment remains a problem in many countries. Globally, almost half the unemployed people are young (ages 15-24), although they make up only 25 percent of the working-age population, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).

In 2005, the world's labor force ages 15 and older-comprising those in work and people seeking jobs-topped 3 billion, up almost 17 percent from 1995. Of these, 2.85 billion had jobs. The ratio of global employment to population stood at 61.4 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from a decade earlier, with most of this decline taking place in the late 1990s.

[ SEE THE GRAPHIC AT THE ATTACHED ]

The global unemployment rate in 2005 was 6.3 percent, lower than the peak of almost 6.6 percent of the labor force in 2002, but up from the 6.0 percent level of a decade earlier. Nearly 192 million people were unemployed in 2005, an increase of 2.2 million since 2004 and 34.4 million since 1995. Of the 192 million, 79 million were women.

[ SEE THE GRAPHIC AT THE ATTACHED ]

Although unemployment fell markedly in developed economies in 2005 to an average of 6.7 percent from 7.1 percent a year earlier, it continued to rise in the former Soviet bloc countries. The Middle East and North Africa have the highest regional rate (13.2 percent), while East Asia has the lowest (3.8 percent).

[ SEE THE GRAPHIC AT THE ATTACHED ]

Almost half of the world's unemployed are under 25 and young people are more than three times as likely as adults to be jobless. Within their age group, the share of employed young people fell to 46.7 percent in 2005 from 51.7 percent in 1995. Youth participation in the labor force also fell, partly because of the increasing proportion in education.

[ SEE THE GRAPHIC AT THE ATTACHED ]

Agriculture still accounts for 40 percent of global employment, but jobs are shifting, particularly to the services sector. If trends over the past decade continue, the services sector...