COVID-19 Crisis Cost the Global Economy About 255 Million Jobs-ILO

COVID-19 pandemic wiped out about 255 million full time jobs globally, raising the concern that the world economy won’t recover fully in 2021. The report by International Labor Organization showed that working hours would remain below those of the pre-crisis levels even under the most optimistic assumptions.

• Under a baseline scenario, ILO projects that the global economy will end this year with the equivalent of 90 million fewer full-time jobs than before the pandemic outbreak.
• Lower than previously expected third-quarter losses and a fourth quarter’s 4.6% reduction in working hours less than predicted raises optimism of economic rebound.
• ILO expects “serious concerns” of uneven recovery, with the hardest-hit sectors such as hospitality, arts, and retail benefiting less from improving economic conditions.
• In a pessimistic scenario, where vaccination progress is slow and the impact of the pandemic is prolonged, ILO expects labor-market losses to remain at the current level in 2021.

Global stocks are currently declining. SPY is down 0.49%, FTSE 100 is down 0.84%, DAX is down 1.66%