Global youth unemployment to increase due to euro crisis: Report

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has warned that the eurozone debt crisis will lead to a hike in the global youth unemployment over the next five years.

According to a Tuesday report by the ILO, the unemployment rate among young people is set to rise globally as the economic crisis in the eurozone targets emerging economies, raising youth unemployment to 13 percent by 2017.

The economic woes in the 17-nation bloc is slated to spill over to emerging economies in East Asia and Latin America as demand in Europe declines and exports decrease.

The ILO also stated that although youth unemployment in recession-bound Europe is expected to decline slightly in the next few years, “Much of this decline in the jobless rate is not due to improvements in the labor market, but rather to large numbers of young people dropping out of the labor force altogether due to discouragement.”

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries including Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy.

The ILO also called for government-backed jobs and training, referring to the fact that many young people have not held out much hope for finding a job.

The report stated that the Middle East and North Africa have the highest rates of youth unemployment and the trend will continue.