Global unemployment remained steady last year at an historical low of 5 percent, where it is set to stay in 2025, the International Labour Organization said in a report on Thursday.

However, the Geneva-based body said that a global economic slowdown from 3.3 percent to around 3.2 percent last year, and a gradual deceleration over the medium term, will limit job creation.

"The global economy continues to expand at a moderate rate, but it is projected to gradually lose steam, preventing a stronger and more durable labour market recovery," the ILO flagship report on global employment and social trends said.

The current global unemployment rate of 5 percent is the lowest in an ILO data series going back to 1991 and is projected to tick lower again in 2026 to 4.9 percent, the ILO said.

However, some countries and groups are failing to benefit from the positive trend, with young people face a significantly higher unemployment rate of 12.6 percent, the report said.

While some European countries have seen unemployment fall in recent years, countries such as South Africa reported stubbornly high levels above 30 percent in 2024, it said.

ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, a former Prime Minister of Togo, called for bold action to help address barriers to a thriving labour market.

"The world must embrace new approaches to social justice that generate decent work," he said in the report's preface.

The 84-page report also includes recommendations to boost job creation through investment in education plus a proposal for new private funds from migrants' remittances sent back home to boost development in poorer countries.