ILO: Grim job outlook for L. American youth

A report released this week by the International Labor Organization (ILO) concluded that millions of young Latin Americans face a negative job outlook. Ten million young people in Latin America are unemployed which is three times the adult rate for the region. Add to that the high percentage of youth working in the informal sector and the decrease in prospects for employment, and this leads towards a “vicious circle of poverty” affecting the region’s youth.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia observed that Latin America is wasting a prime opportunity for social and economic advancement in an increasingly globalized world:

“Young people are essential to integrate the region in the globalization process. All over the world, young women and young men, if they are given the opportunity, make an important contribution as productive workers, employers, consumers, members of civil society and agents of change.

Young people invest their energy, talent and creativity in the economy, and nobody can afford to loose this potential.”

Sources (English)- International Labor Organization, MercoPress

Source (Spanish)- El Diario/La Prensa

Image- ifad.org (Young man working at a market in Grenada)