Trade and decent work : indicator guide

The purpose of the present Guide is to provide analytical tools, which can support further research on trade and decent work. It offers a broad set of labour market indicators for trade policy assessment that can be used in studies on the nexus between trade and employment, labour relations, and working terms and conditions. To that end, the Guide singles out and contextualizes those of the ILO's decent work indicators that are suitable for analysing the impact of trade policy on the labour market. It also facilitates the use of these indicators in macro, sectoral and micro assessments of the impact of trade on the labour market at the country level by providing an overview of measurement approaches, relevant data sources, links to trade theory and empirical evidence. Such assessments will help to support a more human-centred approach to the future of work - as called for in the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (ILO 2019a) - by making decent work a central objective of trade policy. Additionally, it resonates with the twin objectives of realizing free trade and decent work enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, under Goal 17 and Goal 8, respectively