2010.09.1310:05:00UTC+00Labor Market In Dire Straits: IMF Chief

The recession has left behind a waste land of unemployment leaving the labor market in dire straits, chief of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Monday in his opening remarks at the IMF/International Labor Organization joint conference in Oslo, Norway.

"This devastation threatens the livelihood, security, and dignity of millions of people across the world," he said. "Job loss was the greatest in countries where housing and financial markets collapsed."

In the next ten years, more than 440 million new jobs will be needed to absorb new entrants into the labor force, and still more to reverse the unemployment caused by the crisis. Unemployment rates have fallen in Germany, and haven't changed much in Norway or Japan.

Developing countries need to grow rapidly to absorb their expanding labor force and to meet the demand for jobs from migrants leaving rural areas, he said. However, despite a number of years of rapid economic growth, youth unemployment has remained stubbornly high, rising to 13% per cent in 2009, or 81 million.

Meanwhile, in an interview to the CNBC, Strauss-Kahn ruled out chances for a double-dip recession and said stimulus spending was helpful in containing the crisis.

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