The employment rate is expected to grow by around 1.1% in 2025 and 0.7% in 2026. This is despite the increase in unemployed people, which is up to 72%, in the last year, in countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
This is according to the organisation’s latest Economic Outlook for 2025, which was released on Wednesday, the 09th July 2025. About 668 million people were employed in member countries, in May 2025, up by about 26% since 2001.
Having been at or below 5.0% for more than 3 years, the OECD-wide unemployment rate stood at 4.9% in May 2025 and is projected to remain near this low level through 2026. It was 0.5 percentage points higher for women than for men.
Gender gaps in employment and labour force participation are narrowing in many countries.
On average the employment rate of women rose by around 0.2 percentage points more than that of men, between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, across OECD countries, This brings the gender gap to a narrowed 0.3 percentage points over the same period, largely driven by more women entering the labour force.
Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD, said “OECD labour markets continue to be resilient. Employment rates have risen further over the past year to 72.1% in the average OECD country, the highest level since at least 2005. But population ageing is set to lead to significant labour shortages and fiscal pressures. We estimate that, by 2060, the working-age population will decline by 8% in the OECD and annual public spending on pensions and health will rise by 3% of GDP. Ambitious policy action is needed to improve job opportunities for older workers, unlock the untapped labour market potential of women and young people, and revive productivity growth, including by ensuring that workers have the right skills to benefit from new AI tools.”
Cormann also said real wages are growing across most of the OECD, but remain below the levels seen in early 2021, just before the post-pandemic inflation surge, in around half of countries.
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