Redoubling efforts to avoid setbacks. The struggle against informality. The challenge of increasing productivity. 

“The labour market situation is not negative, but yet worrying. One region is under the risk of missing the opportunity to go towards the generation of more and better jobs”, said the Regional Director of ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean, Elizabeth Tinoco while presenting the report in Lima, Peru.

The unemployment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean will close this year with a historical minimum of 6.3%, but the perspective for 2014 is not optimistic because the economic growth loses strength in the region.

The Director claimed that it would be necessary to create at least 45.5 million of new jobs in the next decade to consolidate the unemployment fall reached by the region in the last years and to avoid that it goes beyond 7%.

The unemployment rate went slowly down in the last decade, after reaching a maximum of 11.1% in 2003.

If the growth forecast for 2014 were fulfilled, the unemployment rate would remain stable. However, this is not enough.

The lost of economic dynamism affected the labour market in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2013, the labour indicators reveal a stagnation in the progress which was characteristic of previous years, said the Regional director of ILO.

The Labour Outlook 2013 also shows that thre are at least 6.6 million of young people unemployed in Latin America and the Caribbean. The youth unemployment rate in urban areas even experienced a slight rise in the regional average, going from 14.2% to 14.5%

“The region is running the risk of missing the opportunity to go towards the generation of more and better jobs. Salaries grow less than in previous years, informality is not reduced, productivity is going below the world average and youth unemployment is increasing in urban areas”, added Miss Tinoco.

“The economic growth is crucial to improve the quality and quantity of jobs, but it is not enough, especially when it loses dynamism as happening at the moment. Therefore it is important to implement regulations and specific policies to face labour challenges”, she said

In view of this scenario, the organism recommends the region to create a proper environment for the development of sustainable companies which produce formal employment, to strengthen the labour institutionalism and social dialogue. It also suggest that it should design and put into practice active policies of labour market, improve education and training for jobs/work, promote the formalization not only of the companies but also of the labour relationships and to implement policies oriented to increase productivity.