The world gross product is expected to grow by 3 per cent this year and 3.1 per cent in 2011, but the weak recovery will hurt jobs, the United Nations said today in an update of the world economy and future prospects, according to dpa. The weak recovery will not help close the global output gap left by the worst recession since World War II in the past two years. Recovery will be uneven across nations, with encouraging growth prospects in developing countries and lacklustre in developed countries, the UN projected. The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010 said most economies will register positive growth this year, propelled by stimulus packages and expansionary monetary policies. It said risks in the world financial system were expected to abate by mid-year while major equity markets would have recovered on average. It noted how the debt crisis in Greece, which has spread to Portugal, Spain and Ireland, was threatening the euro zone. The UN said the United States had extricated itself from the recession and forecast US economic growth by 2.9 per cent this year, but will slow down to 2.5 per cent next year. Washington's own projections for growth this year are 3.2 to 3.7 per cent. In East Asia, China will lead the region with gross domestic growth estimate at 9.2 per cent in 2010 and 8.8 per cent in 2011. GDP in the region is expected to rise to 7.3 per cent in 2010, up from 4.7 per cent in 2009, the UN said. India's GDP is forecast to grow by 7.9 per cent in 2010. World unemployment rates, at historic highs in many countries, are not expected to change, the report said. There were an estimated 34 million jobless people in 2009 when the economic crisis hit. "At the present rate of recovery, it is expected to take at least four or five years to bring unemployment rates down to pre-crisis levels in most developed countries," the UN said.
