Latin America. According to the latest joint report of the Cepal and the ILO on unemployment in the region during 2011 and expectations for this year, the unemployment rate has a downward trend, despite the international economic situation.
In 2011 the regional unemployment rate fell to 6.7% and it is expected that this year it will continue with the downward trend and stand at 6.5%. Although the figure is still high, we must bear in mind that the unemployment rate in 2010 stood at 7.3% and that last year's numbers were not had since the early 90s.
An important aspect that the report points out has to do with informal employment, one of the biggest labour problems in the region. It indicates that the proportion of formal jobs with social protection grew and underemployment fell, while wages, both average and minimum, increased in real terms, albeit moderately.
ECLAC and the ILO maintain that for this year there will be a slightly lower regional economic growth than in 2011, mainly due to a world economy with cooling of several of its main economic engines and a high uncertainty related, above all, to the prospects of the Eurozone.
Another problem that Latin American countries must overcome is that there are still significant gaps and serious problems of labor insertion, especially for women and young people, as well as an unfavorable redistribution to workers of salaries with respect to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries.
