CEPAL
ColeccionesLibros institucionalesInformes anualesLibros de la CEPALCuadernos de la CEPALCoedicionesCopublicacionesSeriesRevista CEPALBoletinesDocumentos de proyectoNotas de poblaciónCuadernos estadísticosObservatorio demográficoInformes de reuniones y programasCuadernos del ILPESInformes anualesEstudio económicoInforme macroeconómicoPanorama SocialAnuario EstadísticoLa inversión extranjera directaPanorama de la inserción internacionalBalance Preliminar de las Economías
Banner Revista de la CEPAL 2012

  • Crisis in the labour markets and countercyclical responses

  • ECLAC / ILO
  • 2009
  • Signatura:ECLAC/ILO Bulletin Nº 2
  • 20 pp.
  • Boletines
  • Coyuntura laboral en América Latina y el Caribe Nº2
  • ECLAC,ILO
  • Bajar documentoBajar documento
  • EnviarEnviar
  • ImprimirImprimir
  • Solicitar impresoSolicitar impreso
  • CompartirCompartir

Resumen

As predicted in the first bulletin, produced jointly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the impact of the economic crisis continued to be felt in Latin America and the Caribbean during the second quarter of 2009. Regional exports of goods and services contracted in response to sluggish demand on international markets, while remittances and foreign direct investment flows continued to fall, credit lost its buoyancy and the total wage bill diminished, owing mainly to job losses. As a result, the growth forecasts of many countries had to be adjusted downwards. Since the end of 2008, the countries of the region had started to implement countercyclical policies —albeit with significant differences— in an effort to use public spending to counter flagging investment and consumer-spending levels and boost aggregate demand.

In this second bulletin, ECLAC and ILO show how the impact of the crisis has deepened in labour markets in the region in the first half of the year and examine existing options and the outcome of public-infrastructure and emergency employment programmes designed to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the labour market.

The unemployment rate has risen in practically all countries compared with the previous year and this situation worsened further in the second quarter, when urban unemployment exceeded the rate of the corresponding period in 2008 by 1 percentage point (to stand at 8.5%, up from 7.5%), while in the first quarter, the variation was 0.6 of a percentage point. Labour indicators also point to an increase in informality, a decline in employment with social protection and a decrease in full-time employment.

Labour-market trends observed in the first half-year, together with the forecast for a 1.9% decline in regional GDP in 2009, suggest that the average annual rate of urban unemployment in the region will be close to 8.5%. This forecast is slightly less pessimistic than the estimate given in the first bulletin; this is attributable to the fall in the participation rate in the first half-year to levels that are expected to remain low for the rest of the year. Without this reduction in the labour supply, due largely to the "discouragement effect", the annual average urban unemployment rate would stand at between 8.8% and 8.9%. Thus, the open urban unemployment figure would increase by 2.5 million and if the "discouraged job-seekers" are included, then the number of additional persons not finding a niche in the urban labour market would climb to 3.2 million.  

Categorías

Empleo y salarios, Políticas y programas sociales

Otros idiomas

Crisis en los mercados laborales y respuestas contracíclicas