Austerity measures ”damaging job hopes”

Tough austerity measures introduced by governments around the world attempting to tackle their deficits are damaging the jobs situation which is not expected to get better any time soon, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has claimed. Indeed, the situation will get even worse before any signs of improvement.

Not only had severe austerity measures not impacted on deficits as much as expected but they had also stunted economic growth and seriously damaged the jobs market, the ILO said, echoing claims made in the UK by union leaders and the Labour party.

While the Prime Minister David Cameron said the latest unemployment figures in Britain were “very, very disappointing”, France saw its jobless figure rise for the 11th month in a row and Spain’s unemployment rate topped a massive 24 per cent.

In its report, the ILO said: “It is unlikely that the world economy will grow at a sufficient pace over the next couple of years to both close the existing jobs deficit and provide employment for the more than 80m people expected to enter the labour market during this period.”

The report’s lead author Raymond Torres added: “The narrow focus of many eurozone countries on fiscal austerity is deepening the jobs crisis and could even lead to another recession in Europe.”