Canada's Radio Labour reports that global unemployment is expected to continue to climb through 2017.

International Labor Organization (ILO) General Secretary Guy Ryder says the trend is higher joblessness.

 "I think the major message arising from our annual report on employment trends is that despite the marginal improvement in economic growth rates foreseen for 2017, this will be insufficient to prevent a continuing rise in global unemployment.

We think 3.4 million will be added to the global unemployment figures in the coming year."

Ryder is the first unionist to head the ILO.

He says not only are millions more going to be unemployed, but the quality of jobs being created isn't high enough to sustain higher living standards for workers.

"Unfortunately the trends that we see coming down the line mean that we will not make the progress that we must in continuing to eliminate working poverty...

This is an unsatisfactory unacceptable situation, but not an inevitability. And therefore we need to re-focus on employment issues."