The crisis in the Middle East could cost 14 million jobs
Keystone-SDA
The crisis in the Middle East could cost 14 million full-time equivalent jobs this year if the price of a barrel of oil exceeds the average for the start of the year by 50%. The figure would rise to 38 million by 2027, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
In a report published on Monday, the ILO added that the number of hours worked could fall by 0.5% this year and 1.1% next year. Real labour income is expected to fall by 1.1% and 3%, or $1.1 trillion (CHF860 billion) and $3 trillion respectively.
The unemployment rate is expected to rise by 0.1 percentage points this year and 0.5 percentage points next year, the organisation adds. The Arab countries and Asia/Pacific are likely to be the most affected because of their links with the Gulf States.
+ Why unemployment in Switzerland is increasing more than elsewhere in Europe
The former could even see a 10.2% fall in hours worked in the event of a serious deterioration. This is more than double the rate at the time of the Covid pandemic. “It’s a slow and potentially long shock,” said the ILO’s chief economist, Sangheon Lee.
Adapted from French by AI/ts
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
