Around the world, young people are out of work at a rate not seen in 20 years

The unemployment rate for young people worldwide is creeping back up to a 20-year peak, with 71 million out of jobs.

To put that in perspective, that is more than the entire population of Thailand.

One would have to go to the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the founding of the European Union, or 2013 to remember a worse time to be leaving school in search of work.

These are just some of the troubling findings of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in its annual "World Employment and Social Outlook for Youth" report that shines a spotlight on those ages 15 to 24.

The outlook is grim even for those with jobs. About 156 million working youths in the emerging and developing world live on less than $3.10 a day.

It's this demographic, youngsters in search of a better life, that is a big driver of international migration.

The problem is that the wealthier nations they seek to settle in are bedeviled with unemployment woes of their own.

That brought the unemployment rate for young people to 14.5 percent, higher than middle- and low-income economies, the Geneva-based United Nations agency stated in its 2016 report.

This does not reflect more favorable labor market conditions throughout the developing world.

"Instead, it indicates that young people in these countries must often work, typically in poor-quality and low-paid jobs, in order to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves and their families," the 48-page the ILO report said.