The United Nation’s agency for labour on Wednesday cut its global employment forecast for job growth this year to 1.5% due to a worsening global economic outlook and trade tensions.
Some 53 million jobs will be created this year, that is seven million less than previously thought as economic growth predictions were lowered to 2.8 per cent, from 3.2 per cent, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report.
“Economic uncertainty has been high in 2025, shaped by ongoing conflicts, geo-economic realignments, and trade-related disruptions,” the report said.
Some of the 84 million jobs across 71 countries that are linked to U.S. consumer demand are increasingly at risk of disruption due to trade tensions, the ILO said. Jobs in Canada and Mexico have the highest share of jobs exposed, it added.
“If geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions continue, and if we do not address fundamental questions that are reshaping the world of work, then they will most certainly have negative ripple effects on labour markets worldwide,” said the ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo.
(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Madeline Chambers)
