7.2 million more Asians to be rendered jobless
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 19 February 2009, 22:58 IST   |    1 Comments
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Manila: As many as 7.2 million more people in Asia are likely to lose their jobs this year, raising the region's jobless rate to 5.1 percent, warned the International Labor Organization (ILO). The ranks of unemployed workers would likely balloon to 97 million in 2009 in Asia, where a third of the population still live on a little over 1 dollar a day, says ILO. Last year, the unemployment rate was 4.8 percent. In the most pessimistic case, the number of unemployed could even swell to 113 million, or 22.3 million more than last year, the organization said in a report on the crisis' fallout in Asia. So, absorbing Asia's constantly growing labor force has become a huge concern now. For that, an estimated 51 million new jobs need to be created this year and next. Most jobs are required in the region's giant economies - 20.3 million in India, 10.9 million in China and 3.6 million in Indonesia. However, the report added, "There is very little chance that a sufficient number of new jobs will be created in the region this year to keep up with expected labor force growth." Countries with the highest rates of expected labor force growth through 2010 include Pakistan at 6.1 percent, Cambodia at 4.9 percent, and the Philippines at 4.9 percent. The Geneva-based ILO also said the World Bank now forecasts an overall drop in remittances in 2009, partly due to the deep recession in the U.S., which accounts for 44 percent of workers' money sent to East Asia and the Pacific, and 28 percent to South Asia. "As global demand for workers contracts, the flow of migrant workers from developing Asia will moderate in 2009," the report said. "For labor-sending countries, this will exacerbate the challenge of mitigating job losses and generating new employment domestically," it added. Last month, ILO had predicted that global unemployment would increase by 18 million to 51 million people this year, depending on the extent and length of the economic crisis.

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