The number of unemployed worldwide will stand at 207 million this year despite the expected economic recovery, the organization said.

That represents a drop of seven million unemployed compared to last year, but still means 21 million more unemployed than in 2019, according to the ILO.

For the organization’s projections, the activity rate, which recorded a decline of close to two percentage points from 2019 to 2020, partially recovers this year.

Such recovery stands below 59.3 percent, almost one percentage point compared to its 2019 level.

In this regard, the ILO revised downward its estimates for the pace of labor market recovery in 2022.

The entity now projects a deficit in hours worked globally equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs with respect to the fourth quarter of 2019.

Recall that the organization’s previous full-year estimate, made in May 2021, projected a shortfall of 26 million full-time jobs this year.

On the other hand, the ILO also warns that many people are dropping out of the labor force, noting that in 2022 the global participation rate will remain 1.2 percentage points below to the recorded in 2019.

The ILO admits that, to some extent, this downgrading of the 2022 forecast reflects the effect that recent variants of Covid-19 have on the labor market, as well as significant uncertainty regarding the future development of the disease.

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