The ILO Predicts that the Unemployment Rate in Latin America will Drop by One Tenth in 2024, to 6.1%

Unemployment in Latin America: Current and Future Perspectives

In absolute figures, this will mean an unemployed population of 19.8 million people both this year and the previous year, while that number will decrease to 19.6 million in 2025.

The data consolidates the return to pre-pandemic figures that had already been evident in 2022 after an unemployment rate in the region of 10.2% was reached in 2020 and the number of unemployed skyrocketed to 30 million.

Informal Unemployment: Downward, But Persistent Trend

The report also shows that the informal unemployment rate in the region will continue its downward trend but will still be high: from 52.3% in 2022 it was lowered to 51.8% in 2023 and will drop to 51.7% in 2024.

The downward trend in the Latin American unemployment rate contrasts with the global situation, given that according to the same report, the world will go from 5.1% unemployment in 2023 to 5.2% in 2024, a percentage that is expected to remain in 2025.

Worldwide Projections: Sustained Increase

In absolute figures, it will mean that from 188.6 million unemployed last year it will rise to 190.8 million in 2024 and 192.7 million next year.

Also read: Colombia’s minimum wage receives a boost in 2024 amid economic challenges

The ILO forecasts that the unemployment rate in Western Europe will rise from 6.2% in 2023 to 6.3% in 2024 (from 14 to 14.3 million unemployed) while it will rise from 3.8% to 4.2% in North America (from 7.5 million unemployed last year to 8.1 million this year).

In East Asia, the report predicts that the unemployment rate will remain at 4.7% this year, the same percentage as in 2023, although the number of unemployed will increase slightly, from 42.9 to 43 million.