Income earned from work globally had a drop of an estimated 10.7%, or $3.5 trillion, in the first nine months of 2020 in comparison to the same period a year ago, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday.
The figure is the equivalent of 5.5% of global gross domestic product (GDP) for the first three quarters of last year, the organization said, noting but it excludes income support governments provided to compensate for workplace closures during the coronavirus pandemic.
Developing and emerging economies saw their workers, especially those in informal employment, being affected to a much greater extent than in past crises, it said.
Also, generally a decline in employment numbers was greater for women than men, the United Nations agency added.
In the second quarter alone, the revised estimate of working time lost worldwide was 17.3%, which was equal to 495 million full-time jobs, compared with a previous estimate of 14% or 400 million jobs, the report said.
In the third quarter, it was expected that working-hour losses would be 12.1% or equivalent to 345 million jobs, it said.
And in the final quarter of 2020, working-hour losses of 8.6%, equivalent to 245 million full-time jobs, are projected against the same time a year ago, the ILO said.
So far, more than 32,124,000 have been infected with the coronavirus and over 982,000 have died around the world.
