A UN report issued today warns that the cooling global economy risks pushing the world into a double-dip jobs recession and triggering an outbreak of social strife unless governments take urgent action to stimulate employment growth.

In what it calls a “grim analysis” of the future of global employment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) also notes that while private enterprises are in an even weaker position to retain employees since the start of the financial crisis, austerity measures implemented by governments have contributed to the growing numbers of unemployed.

According to World of Work Report 2011: Making markets work for jobs, 80 million jobs need to be created over the next two years for global employment to return to pre-crisis levels.

Yet the report points out that at the current rate, it would take at least five years for employment in developed countries to return to pre-crisis levels – one year longer than projected in last year's report.

In a new addition, the annual study features a ‘social unrest' index highlighting global levels of discontent related to perceived economic inequality. Marking an uptick in popular anger in advanced economies such as those of the European Union, the report warns of a “significant aggravation of social unrest” in over 45 of the 118 countries surveyed.