Unemployment rate: the world needs 500 million new jobs in the next decade

The UN agency for labour has said that there are 160 million people without work around the world, 20 million more than three years ago. Statistics say that 50 million of the unemployed are in the industrialised countries. 500 million workers are unable to keep their families above the $1 poverty line. 460 million new young jobseekers appeared over the next 10 years, and 2/3 of them are in Asia. In its World Employment Report 2001, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says the world will have to create 500 million jobs over the next decade. The ILO says this would keep pace with the numbers of new job seekers entering the market, as well as halve global unemployment levels, BBC reports. The ILO hopes that some of the new jobs will be created through the information technology revolution. The ILO notes that developing countries will only benefit if they can improve education standards and their telecommunications infrastructure. Only 5% of the world's population has ever logged on to the internet, and nearly all the users live in industrialised countries. The report warns that the digital divide, between the technological haves and have-nots is widening. And it says that those countries that don't get on board the digital revolution face a loss of competitive economic strength, as well as a possible decline in national income.