According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), labour markets in Latin America and the Caribbean were fairly resilient to the slowdown in the regional economy in the first half of 2012, which bodes well for a positive outcome in this year's employment and unemployment indicators. 

The two United Nations agencies launched their latest issue of the joint publication.

The employment situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, which states that the region's open urban unemployment rate will maintain its downward trend to finish 2012 with a variation of 6.4% (which is lower than the 6.7% posted last year).

The positive trend will be maintained despite the slowing economic growth rate, which went from 4.3% in 2011 to an estimated 3.2% this year. According to the publication, the labour market has been key in preventing an even greater slowdown in the economy, as there was a surge in household purchasing power thanks to job creation and a rise in real wages.

The document highlights an increase in the employment rate of 0.5 percentage points to 56% in the first half of 2012, improvements in job quality through a 3% expansion in formal waged employment covered by social security, and a 3% rise in real wages during the same period.

While the regional prospects are positive, ECLAC and ILO point out that the performance of the region's countries will be uneven. One group of countries will see a slowdown in job creation and formal employment, while another group will see greater buoyancy thanks to economic growth based on the relatively strong increase in investment (Chile, Ecuador and Panama) or exports (Costa   Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua). 

According to the publication, there remain structural problems that have a negative effect on the labour market situation of young people, and therefore on their longer term life prospects and societies' potential for development.

There also remains a high proportion of young people who do not study or enter the labour market (20,3%), especially young women dedicated to domestic work, who will find it difficult to enter the labour market in the future, and will have fewer life options in general, according to the document. 

Lastly, the ECLAC-ILO publication reviews recent experiences of the region's countries in terms of policies and programmes to boost employment.