ILO’s World employment and social outlook (2025) – Strong headline employment indicators hide persistent structural weaknesses on global labour markets

This report provides an in-depth analysis of global labour market trends, highlighting the impacts of slowing economic recovery, persistent youth unemployment, and gender disparities. It examines the structural challenges facing workers worldwide and offers insights into regional and global patterns shaping the future of work. For the first time, it offers an analysis of subnational trends in selected countries. The report also offers labour market projections for 2025 and 2026. Finally, it presents trends in labour force participation, employment growth, and informality and analyses their contributions to structural labour market deficits.

Strong headline employment indicators hide persistent structural weaknesses on global labour markets. The global economy is slowing down, making it harder for labour markets to recover fully. In 2024 global employment grew in line with the labour force, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent. However, youth unemployment showed little improvement, remaining high at 12.6 per cent. Although unemployment has stabilized at a historical low, informal employment, gender gaps and working poverty have shown little or no improvement following the return to pre-pandemic trends. Low-income countries faced the most difficulties in creating decent jobs. Lacklustre productivity growth in major economic markets in Europe and Asia amidst slowing structural transformation towards manufacturing and high-value-added services is also preventing the recovery of real disposable incomes from the losses incurred during the most recent inflationary period. Manufacturing, once a driver of economic growth and productive employment, has experienced a protracted period of stagnation, which has exacerbated spatial inequalities both within and across countries. On current trends, no further improvements in decent work from the 2015 baseline are to be expected by 2030.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ World employment and social outlook: trends 2025