Covid variants have led to worse global unemployment, says ILO

Larry Elliott Economics editor
·2 min read
<span>Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP</span>
Photograph: Nam Y Huh/AP

The outlook for jobs globally this year has worsened markedly since last spring as new variants of the Covid-19 virus have slowed growth and restricted hiring, according to a report from the International Labour Organisation.

In its latest assessment of the state of the labour market, the Geneva-based ILO said unemployment would remain above 2019 levels until at least 2023 and the damage caused by the pandemic would take years to repair.

The ILO said its latest estimates showed there would be the equivalent of 52m fewer jobs globally in 2022 than in the last quarter of 2019, the period immediately before the pandemic struck. That represents a doubling from the 26m in the organisation’s last labour market update in May 2021.

According to the report, global unemployment will be 207m, a smaller drop from the 214m in 2021 than previously expected and well above the 186m reported in 2019. The ILO said the impact of the pandemic on employment was “significantly” greater than the raw figures suggested, because many people had left the labour force entirely. The global labour force participation rate, the number of people in work or seeking employment, was forecast to be 59.3% in 2022 – 1.2 percentage points below that of 2019, it added.

The ILO director-general, Guy Ryder, said: “Two years into this crisis, the outlook remains fragile and the path to recovery is slow and uncertain.

“We are already seeing potentially lasting damage to labour markets, along with concerning increases in poverty and inequality. Many workers are being required to shift to new types of work – for example in response to the prolonged slump in international travel and tourism.


“There can be no real recovery from this pandemic without a broad-based labour market recovery. And to be sustainable, this recovery must be based on the principles of decent work – including health and safety, equity, social protection and social dialogue.”

The ILO said the Delta and Omicron variants had been partly responsible for the downgrades to its 2022 forecasts, noting there was significant uncertainty about the future course of the pandemic.

Labour market recovery was fastest in high-income countries, where a higher proportion of populations have been vaccinated. The ILO said the most developed nations accounted for about half of the global decline in unemployment between 2020 and 2022 while constituting only about a fifth of the global labour force. Lower-middle-income countries had fared the worst during the pandemic.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • US STOCKS-Nasdaq, S&P stumble as Netflix, chip stocks drag; AmEx boosts Dow

    The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell on Friday, as Netflix weighed but American Express kept the Dow on the plus side after quarterly earnings from each, while growing pessimism that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates soon also dented sentiment. Netflix slumped 8.77% as one of the bigger drags on the benchmark S&P index and Nasdaq after the video streaming company's second-quarter revenue view fell short of analysts' expectations while the company also unexpectedly said it would no longer provide subscriber counts.

  • CANADA FX DEBT-C$ notches weekly gain as market works off oversold position

    The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as oil prices rose and the market took stock of recent losses for the currency, but the move was limited following the recent move in yield spreads in favor of the greenback. "The Canadian dollar coming back somewhat is simply technical from an oversold market," said Michael Goshko, senior market analyst at Convera Canada. The slowdown in Canadian inflation has contrasted with the recent heating up of U.S. price pressures, raising bets the Bank of Canada would begin easing interest rates before the Federal Reserve.

  • Major zoning shift would axe minimum parking, allow denser housing, save trees

    The City of Ottawa is looking to eliminate minimum parking rules, save space for trees and allow more neighbourhood-based businesses through a major rewrite of its zoning bylaw.It's only a first draft that must now go through about a year and a half of public consultation, redrafting and voting at council and its committees, but Coun. Jeff Leiper said it goes a long way to meeting the city's development goals."This zoning bylaw obviously allows considerably more density right across the city," s

  • Watch for Lyrid fireballs to light up the sky Sunday night

    One of the oldest known meteor showers peaks Sunday night. Check your weather forecast and find somewhere dark to watch for fireballs streaking across the sky.

  • Biden administration moves to make conservation an equal to industry on US lands

    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule for public land management that's meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties. Officials pushed past strong opposition from private industry and Republican governors to adopt the proposal. GOP members of Congress said in response that they will seek to invalidate it. The rule from the Interior Department's Bureau of La

  • Man sets himself on fire outside Trump trial in New York

    As jury selection finished, a man set himself on fire outside the court

  • Police reviewing allegations against suspended Tory MP accused of pay-off to ‘bad people’

    Officers consider Labour call for Lancashire force to investigate

  • Brother of Taylor Swift’s boyfriend sparks controversy by calling Welsh people ‘posh’

    Jason Kelce, a recently retired top American footballer whose brother dates the singer Taylor Swift, has sparked controversy by declaring in a podcast that Wales is “posh” and filled with “rich, upper class, just beautiful white people”.

  • Red Bull team will drive an F1 car on the streets of D.C. this weekend

    Red Bull is putting on a Showrun this weekend in Washington, D.C. that will have David Coulthard driving an RB7 down Pennsylvania Avenue.

  • From picking up trash on walks to avoiding receipts, 6 tips for keeping yourself — and the planet — healthy

    Ahead of Earth Day, here's how to score a win-win for you and Mother Nature.

  • Full jury of 12 people and 6 alternates is seated in Trump's hush money trial in New York

    NEW YORK (AP) — A full jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, setting the stage for expected opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Lawyers spent days quizzing dozens of New Yorkers to choose the panel that has vowed to put their personal views aside and impartially judge whether the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is guilty or not. The jury includes a sales professional, a software engin

  • USDA confirms cow-to-cow transmission a factor in bird flu spread

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week that cow-to-cow transmission is a factor in the spread of bird flu in dairy herds, but it still does not know exactly how the virus is being moved around. Dairy herds in eight states tested positive over the past month, along with one dairy worker in Texas. "Those of us that have worked with influenza for a long time were fairly quickly saying, 'Yep it moves cow to cow,'" Jim Lowe, an associate dean at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, said on Friday.

  • Former police officer accused of filming sex with ‘vulnerable’ junior cleared of charges

    A former police chief inspector has been found not guilty of misconduct in public office after he was accused of forming a sexual relationship with a junior officer.

  • Canada urges halt to escalating violence as Israel suspected of airstrike on Iran

    OTTAWA — The prime minister is urging de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, though he stopped short Friday of condemning Israel for a suspected retaliatory strike in Iran that Canada had counselled against. Justin Trudeau said Canada condemns Iran's "absolutely irresponsible" missile attack on Israel over the weekend, saying it created the danger of more escalation. He once again called for more humanitarian aid to flow into the Gaza Strip and for the militant group Hamas to lay down its

  • Three injured in vehicle accident in downtown Woodstock

    The Woodstock Police Force report members are investigating a single-vehicle collision early Friday morning on Carleton Street in downtown Woodstock. “At approximately 12:30 a.m, a side-by-side off-road vehicle rolled over, resulting in significant injuries to the occupants,” Deputy Chief Mark Bennett said in a statement released around noon Friday, April 19. “Three passengers in the vehicle were transported to and remain in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.” The polic

  • Ask the Expert: What is causing my Mercedes automatic to slip out of gear?

    I have an elderly but lovely Mercedes-Benz E320 diesel estate with 140,000 miles. Recently, on two occasions, the automatic gearbox seemed to have slipped into neutral, not providing any drive. It only lasted a few moments and did not require breakdown recovery. Mechanics at my local garage seem baffled and suggested changing the gearbox oil; the cost could be £400-£500, which seems excessive if it does not solve the problem. Any ideas?

  • UPDATE 1-Bank of Mexico deputy governor sees rates on hold for longer than expected

    Bank of Mexico deputy governor Jonathan Heath said on Friday the benchmark interest rate is likely to remain unchanged for longer than expected by markets, noting it would likely stay put at 11% at the May policy meeting and that the June decision would be data dependent. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, he underscored the importance of waiting until service sector inflation demonstrates a clear downward trajectory, suggesting the possibility of two to four rate cuts this year depending on evolving economic conditions. "Either we meet our inflation target and maybe we could cut, or we don't meet our inflation target and we don't cut," Heath said.

  • Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole asks trolls to ‘leave her alone’ as Taylor Swift releases new album

    Travis Kelce and Kayla Nicole dated off-and-on from 2017 to 2022

  • Sunak rejects offer of youth mobility scheme between EU and UK

    Labour also turns down European Commission’s proposal, which would allow young Britons to live, study and work in EU

  • Primary school teacher accused of murdering her boyfriend revealed ‘alter ego’ in journal entries, court told

    Fiona Beal admits killing her partner Nicholas Billingham but denies it was murder as court told she hid his body in a ‘de facto coffin’