"Urban unemployment particularly affects women and young people. Unemployment among women is about 45 per cent higher than the overall or average unemployment rate, while youth unemployment is almost double this figure."
Urban youth unemployment rose in seven of the nine countries reviewed in the Labour Overview, and in almost all of the countries was twice or nearly twice the national average rate. Between January and September 2002, more than one in every five young people was unemployed in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela.
To those people without jobs may be added those whose job is of inferior quality, with low levels of productivity and incomes. The vast majority of these people work in the informal or unstructured sector of the economy. ILO estimates suggest that approximately 47 per cent of the urban employed in Latin America work in the informal sector. "Generally speaking, about seven out of every ten people economically active in urban areas of Latin America do not have a job or have a poor quality job."
While unemployment rates in rural areas are perceptibly lower, the report highlights the poor quality of the bulk of jobs, "especially among small farmers, indigenous or otherwise, engaged in subsistence agriculture or livestock husbandry with little connection to the market".
Urban youth unemployment rose in seven of the nine countries reviewed in the Labour Overview, and in almost all of the countries was twice or nearly twice the national average rate. Between January and September 2002, more than one in every five young people was unemployed in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Venezuela.
To those people without jobs may be added those whose job is of inferior quality, with low levels of productivity and incomes. The vast majority of these people work in the informal or unstructured sector of the economy. ILO estimates suggest that approximately 47 per cent of the urban employed in Latin America work in the informal sector. "Generally speaking, about seven out of every ten people economically active in urban areas of Latin America do not have a job or have a poor quality job."
While unemployment rates in rural areas are perceptibly lower, the report highlights the poor quality of the bulk of jobs, "especially among small farmers, indigenous or otherwise, engaged in subsistence agriculture or livestock husbandry with little connection to the market".