translated from Spanish: ILO: Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed 149 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean

The coronavirus pandemic has destroyed up to 149 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean so far this year, with the period from April to June being the hardest stage for the Latin American labour market, according to data from the International Labour Organization (ILO). Specifically, during the second quarter of the year, the region lost 80 million jobs, up from the 9 million lost in the first quarter and the estimated 60 million for the third quarter. By area, South America was the hardest hit area, with a cumulative loss of 97 million workers, while Central America saw a decrease of 45 million people on payroll. For its part, North America (excluding Mexico) recorded a loss of 40 million jobs until September, causing the total job loss in America to be 191 million in the first three quarters. In the first quarter of the year, the Americas lost 3% of working hours, resulting in a decrease of 11 million jobs. With respect to the second quarter, America recorded a loss of working hours of about 28% in the second quarter of 2020 in the second quarter, i.e. some 105 million full-time jobs.” This is the most pronounced loss of working hours in the main geographical regions, and is the largest upward revision since the fifth edition of the ILO observatory was published,” the text notes. The third quarter of the year left a 19.8% drop in the percentage of hours worked, which implies a fall of 75 million jobs. “At the regional level, America is expected to remain the hardest-hit region in the third quarter (according to a 19.8% decrease in working hours,” the report notes. Forecasts for the four quarter suggest that in America the loss of working hours is 14.9%. Globally, the ILO expects a total of 590 million full-time jobs worldwide to be lost in the second half of the year as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a decrease of 8.6% of working hours in the fourth quarter (245 million fewer jobs) and a 12.1% decline in the third quarter (345 million jobs).

Original source in Spanish