New projections indicated that global unemployment would fall modestly this year even as inequalities in labour markets persisted, with women in low-income countries particularly affected, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report.

The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook: May 2024 Update predicted that the 2024 global unemployment rate would stand at 4.9 per cent, down from 5.0 per cent in 2023.

The figure revised downward the previous ILO projection of 5.2 per cent for this year.

However, the downward trend for joblessness was expected to flatten in 2025, with unemployment remaining at 4.9 per cent, the report said.

Despite this outlook, the report underscored a persistent lack of employment opportunities.

The ILO estimated that the ‘jobs gap’ – which measured the number of persons without a job but who wanted to work – stood at 402 million persons in 2024.

This included 183 million people who were counted as unemployed.

“Today’s report reveals critical employment challenges that we must still address. Despite our efforts to reduce global inequalities, the labour market remains an uneven playing field, especially for women,” said ILO Director-General, Gilbert F Houngbo.

“To achieve a sustainable recovery whose benefits are shared by all, we must work towards inclusive policies that take into consideration the needs of all workers. We must place inclusion and social justice at the core of our policies and institutions. Unless we do we will fall short of our objective to ensure strong and inclusive development,” he said.

Detailed figures from the report showed that women, especially in low-income countries, were disproportionately affected by the lack of opportunities.

The jobs gap for women in low-income countries reached a striking 22.8 per cent, versus 15.3 per cent for men. This contrasted with high-income countries, where the rate was 9.7 per cent for women and 7.3 per cent for men.

These differences were just the “tip of the iceberg,” as significantly more women than men were completely detached from the labour market.

The report found that family responsibilities could explain much of the difference seen in women’s and men’s employment rates.

Globally, 45.6 per cent of working-age women were employed in 2024, compared to 69.2 per cent of men.

Even when women were employed, they tended to earn far less than men, particularly in low-income countries.

While women in high-income countries earned seventy-three cents compared to a dollar earned by men, this figure dropped to just forty-four cents in low-income countries.

More generally, despite the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, progress in reducing poverty and informality had slowed down in comparison to the previous decade.

The number of workers in informal employment had grown from approximately 1.7 billion in 2005 to 2.0 billion in 2024.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, “a comprehensive approach” to reducing poverty and inequality was urgently needed, the report concluded.