Article March 31, 2003 Issue

Discouraging job prospects?

with contributions from Neeru Dhingra, Nigel Daley

A job is a statistic when you're the one looking for work. And looking is what millions of people are doing in 2003.

On January 24 this year, BBC News World Edition reported that "unemployment around the world has reached a record figure of 180 million [6.5 percent of the total labor force] and is likely to continue rising, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). "Hardest hit," the report continued, "are the industrialized countries of Latin America, where economic crisis has driven the average unemployment rate up to 10 percent. "In Argentina, whose economy is the worst affected, the number of jobless now stands at 22 percent. In Africa and the Middle East, those looking for their first jobs are finding it especially hard."

In the United States, unemployment moved up to 5.8 percent in February. European unemployment averaged 7.6 percent in and has reached 11.3 percent in Germany. The organization Statistics Canada reports nationwide unemployment of 7.4 percent in February, but joblessness varies from severe on the coasts (11–17 percent in the Eastern Maritimes) to 5.1 percent in Alberta's robust economy.

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