Pandemic could make another 25 million jobless: UN

The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly increase global unemployment, leaving up to 25 million more people out of work, and will dramatically slash workers' incomes, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

In a fresh study, the International Labour Organization warned that the economic and labour crisis sparked by the spread of the new coronavirus, which has now killed more than 8,000 people worldwide, will have "far-reaching impacts on labour market outcomes".

"This is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people," ILO chief Guy Ryder said in a statement.

The UN agency's study suggested the world should prepare to see a "significant rise in unemployment and underemployment in the wake of the virus."
It warned that "underemployment is also expected to increase on a large scale, as the economic consequences of the virus outbreak translate into reductions in working hours and wages."