ILO report sees “volatile and uneven recovery” across economic sectors in 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department has released new data showing that employment is recovering unevenly across sectors in the first half of 2010 and will continue to do so over the remainder of the year.

The new ILO paper based on data from 13 sectors in 51 developed and developing countries says that while construction and manufacturing have lost a total of more than 5 millions jobs in the first quarter of 2010 (compared to 2009), the health sector has added almost 2.8 million jobs during the same period though compared to 2008, the ILO press service reported.

“In 2010 the global economy seems to have entered into a new stage where divergence and volatility, in a number of labor markets, have significantly increased and uncertainty over the stability of the recovery remains high,” said Elizabeth Tinoco, Director of the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department. “These trends are also observed across sectors and vary from country to country. We see this not only in developed countries, but also in strong emerging economies like China, South Africa and Brazil”.

The ILO paper also analyzes the changes in labor markets in terms of hours of work. It says that after falling consecutively throughout 2009, hours of work began to increase again in the first and second quarters of 2010 in almost all sectors with the exception of agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Looking at the second half of 2010, the paper says labor market outlook remains uncertain across all sectors.

“One of the uncertainties we face is what will happen to private consumption in developed countries: will it remain weak or will it pick up? The same goes for fiscal consolidation plans: what impact will they have in the short run on the economy? The shape and scope of the recovery will depend on how these trends evolve”, said Ms Tinoco.