Geneva, November 20 (EFE) .- The youth unemployment rate in Western Europe is decreasing due largely to improvements in countries such as Spain, France and Italy, although the advances in The first country is due in particular to the expansion of temporary work, said the International Labor Organization (ILO) today.

"Spain fell very low and bottomed out, so now There are improvements, mainly due to a relative increase in temporary employment, "the director of the Employment Policy Department of the ILO, Azita Berar Awad, explained at a press conference. annual report on youth employment trends.

According to ILO estimates, youth unemployment in Spain will stand at 39.8% this year, compared with 44.2% in 2016 and 48%. % of the previous year.

The projection for 2018 points to a rate of 37.2%.

However, Berar Awad told Efe that the improvement in Spain is precarious, since I work all year and go from one short-term contract to another. "

This explains that, despite the improvement in their unemployment rate, young people in Spain face the real risk that even working are in a situation of poverty.

If the most recent data indicate that in the European Union (EU) young working poor represent 12.5% �??�??of all employees - compared to 9.5% among adults - this situation threatens up to 20% of young workers in the case of countries such as Spain and Greece.

Poverty in employment occurs when you earn less than 60% of the average income in a country.

This panorama shows, according to the ILO analysis, that a decade after the last major financial crisis and economic, young people continue to suffer its ravages.

The report highlights that unemployment among young people (between 15 and 24 years old) in Western Europe has fallen from the estimated 19.3% year to 18.2% today, which he attributes "to a positive evolution in certain countries with high unemployment".

The perspective is that the situation in that part of Europe continues to improve and that youth unemployment stands at 17.8% in one year.

Globally, young people suffer from a very disadvantageous situation in the labor market and represent more than 35% of the Unemployed population of the world.

It is estimated that there are 70.9 million unemployed young people in 2017.

The youth unemployment rate will be 13.1% this year. slight increase compared to 13.0% registered last year.

By 2018, it is expected to remain stable at the same rate.

The highest youth unemployment rates correspond to the world Arab (30%) and North Africa (28.8%), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean.

The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to register the largest increase in unemployment this year. since 2004, with an interannual increase of almost one percentage point, to 19.6%.

The main reason is the marked deceleration of economic growth, particularly in large economies, such as Brazil and Argentina, "that dragged up the dynamics of job creation in the region, which has stopped occurring in recent years," Berar explained. Awad.

In this context, the good news for the region is that it has the second lowest incidence of poor working youth, with only 10% of young people working in a situation of moderate or extreme poverty, a rate similar to that of adults.

"What must be highlighted in Latin America is a great improvement in the formalization of employment and the consequent improvement in the quality of employment, "noted senior ILO researcher Niall O'Higgins.

For his part, Berar Awad noted that countries like Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico have adopted policies to extend social protection for those who work in the informal sector, in small businesses and those in self-employment.

"All this clearly shows the result that can give long-term public policies, at least five to ten years, beyond economic cycles, "he added.

The ILO report has also highlighted the double discrimination that affects young women in labor markets around the world.

With a participation rate of young women in the labor market 16.6% below that of men, these also suffer an unemployment rate of 34.4%, compared to 9.8% of men of the same age category.