Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012

The study examines the continuing job crisis affecting young people in many parts of the world. It provides updated statistics on global and regional youth unemployment rates and presents ILO policy recommendations to curb the current trends.

Incorporating the most recent labour market information available, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 sets out the youth labour market situation around the world. It shows where progress has or has not been made, updates world and regional youth labour market indicators and gives detailed analyses of medium-term trends in youth population, labour force, employment and unemployment.

This year’s report shows that the impacts of the crisis have been disproportionately severe for young people around the world, and that those in developed economies have been especially hard hit. With nearly 75 million youth unemployed worldwide, the youth unemployment rate has remained close to the crisis peak in 2009, and medium-term projections suggest little improvement. Particularly worrisome is the increase in those youth who have withdrawn from the workforce, and in those who are neither in education nor in employment.

The report offers valuable lessons learned from in-depth regional and gender analysis as well as recommendations on youth employment policies. Ideally, these will shape future developments, as countries continue to prioritize youth in their national recovery policy agendas.