1.7 million new unemployed people in Latin America

image: Expreso

Unemployment in Latin America rose for the first time in 5 years, from 6.2% in 2014 to 6.7% this year, a trend that will continue in 2016, when it will reach a 6.9% due to the slowdown in the region, according to the Labour Overview report of the ILO.

The director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jose Manuel Salazar, explained that the increase in unemployment translates into 1.7 million new unemployed people, a figure that could reach 19 million in the region.

“This is a reality that should concern because it indicates that this crisis in slow motion that initiated four years ago is coming to the labor markets and in 2016 the most profound deterioration will be felt although economic predictions for that year improve marginally,” said Salazar.

Half of the Latin Americans who were unemployed in 2015 are from Brazil, a country that leads the loss of jobs in the region after increasing a half percentage point its unemployment rate, which rose from 6.9% in 2014 to 8.4 % in 2015.

Translated into English by Pierina Abad

Source: http://expreso.ec/expreso/plantillas/nota.aspx?idart=8733757&idcat=38229&tipo=2