Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024: low-growth trap, climate change and employment trends. Executive summary

Latin America and the Caribbean is mired in a decades-long growth trap, and further hampered by global and regional conditions that limit the space for macroeconomic policies to spur economic growth in the region. The results of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024 reveal weaker job creation, especially in the formal sector, with young people, women, older persons, migrants and rural dwellers among the most likely to be informal workers. In addition, an intensification of climate change effects will drastically reduce the number of jobs created in the medium term if mitigation and adaptation policies are not adopted. To address these challenges and soften the impact on labour markets, the region must harmonize productive development, employment and macroeconomic policies, together with effective climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. This will require a significant increase in public and private investment, along with structural reforms to foster sustainable and equitable economic growth.