The World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2015 includes a forecast of worsening global unemployment levels and explains the factors behind it, such as continuing inequality and falling wage shares. The report looks at the drivers of the rising middle class in the developing world as well as the risk of social unrest, especially in areas of elevated youth unemployment. It also addresses structural factors shaping the world of work, including an aging population and shifts in the skills sought by employers.

Acknowledgements .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Summary: Renewed turbulence over the employment horizon .. . . . 11 1. Global employment and social developments .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 A. Labour market trends .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 B. Social developments and trends .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2. Regional developments: An uneven and uncertain recovery .. . . 33 Developed Economies and European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Central and South-Eastern Europe (non-EU) and the CIS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Latin America and the Caribbean .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 East Asia .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 South-East Asia and the Pacific .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 South Asia .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Middle East and North Africa .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3. Medium-term challenges for jobs with equity .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 A. Shrinking labour supply and population ageing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 B. Changes in occupational patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 C. Income inequality and economic growth accelerations and slowdowns . 64 Concluding remarks .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Annexes 1. Global and regional figures .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 2. Labour market estimates and projections .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 3. Occupational and sectoral employment estimates and projections .. . . . 93 4. Real wage growth estimates and projection .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 5. Regional groupings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Bibliography .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97