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Ministers responsible for employment from around the world gather at the OECD on 28-29 September to discuss the jobs crisis. In our eighth OECD Observer ministers' roundtable, we ask six representatives, from Canada (co-Chair), Italy (co-Chair), Sweden (vice-Chair), France, New Zealand, and Chile, which is a candidate for OECD accession: What new policy actions are you taking to improve the jobs situation in your country?
Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD
Some 15 million people have joined the ranks of the unemployed in OECD countries since the end of 2007. Unemployment has already reached a record high of 8.5% as a result. Without the right policies and if the recovery fails to gain momentum, OECD unemployment could approach 10% next year. That would mean 57 million people out of work-roughly equivalent to the population of some G8 countries!
The financial and economic crisis has developed into an unemployment crisis, with untenably high economic and social costs. Employment always take time to recover after recessions, but the lag could be longer this time. Many firms have been wiped out and livelihoods destroyed because of the financial crisis. These are the challenges ministers from around the world will confront when they gather at the OECD Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting on 28-29 September 2009. Despite stretched budgets and burgeoning debt, they must act decisively to end the jobs crisis.
| GDP | +0.0% Q2/Q1 2009 |
| Leading indicators | +1.5 July/Jun 09, -1.9 Jul/Jul 08 |
| Inflation | -0.3% in Aug, -0.6% in July, annual |
| Trade | -13.4% exports Q1 09/Q4 08, imports -15.2% |
| Unemployment | 8.5% July 2009, up 2.4 percentage pts y/y. |
Data for 30-country OECD area . Latest update: 2 October 2009
For details on these and other numbers, visit www.oecd.org/statistics
Unemployment is rising to unprecedented high levels. There are several good policies governments can deploy to tackle it, but there are risks to avoid too.
Respond to the needs of the newly unemployed while continuing to engage with people who are disadvantaged within the labour market: this is the major challenge facing employment ministers today.
In most OECD countries, unemployment protection systems don't provide adequate social security during a severe economic crisis and periods of high and persisting unemployment. Not only that, benefits can even run out within much less than a year and often before unemployed workers can find new jobs. Also, income support in many countries barely ever covers more than half a worker's previous salary, and sometimes much less.
