The sweeping world economic crisis could throw up to 50 million more people out of work this year, a UN agency warned today in a stark message to world leaders meeting in Davos.
New estimates foresee that 'global unemployment in 2009 could increase over 2007 by a range of 18 million to 30 million workers, and more than 50 million if the situation continues to deteriorate,' the International Labour Organisation said in a statement.
Director-General Juan Somavia said the ILO's message is realistic, not alarmist. 'We have to assume that we are now facing a global jobs crisis,' he added.
The past few days have seen an avalanche in announced job cuts in Europe, Asia and the US affecting tens of thousands of workers.
The spreading effects of the crisis, causes and routes out of recessionary pressures, are at the top of the agenda of the annual get-together of world policymakers and leading business figures at the Swiss mountain resort of Davos.
