The global economic crisis is threatening to push the worldwide unemployment rate to its peak and it will be unlikely to ease by 2016, The International Labour Organization has warned.

Nearly 75 million youths, or 12.7% of people aged between 15 to 24, will be jobless, nearing the 75.4 million mark of the 2009 financial crisis, excluding the number of people who have put off or given up looking for a job, according it says. “By 2016, the youth unemployment rate is projected to remain at the same high level”, with pressure piling on youths who pursued graduate studies in the next few years.

The Global Employment Trends for Youth report suggests measures to help lighten the pressure on unemployment rates by offering tax and other incentives to businesses hiring young people. ILO executive director of employment, Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, said that job creation should be a key priority in policy-making. Entrepreneurship programmes should also be launched. In East Asia, the unemployment rate for young people is twice that of older adults.