World loses equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020 due to COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic took a huge toll on global jobs last year, the United Nations said on Monday, equivalent to more than a quarter of a billion lost. In a new study, the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) found that a full 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost in 2020, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

That is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, or "approximately four times greater than the number lost during the 2009 global financial crisis," the ILO said in a statement. Labor in the catering and accommodation industries was most affected. While jobs in information technology and communications, finance, and insurance increased.

Although there are many COVID-19 vaccines available, the prospect of recovering the global labor market in 2021 is expected to remain low, unstable, and uneven.