The unemployment rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell in July to 4.9%, after chaining four consecutive months at 5%, which represents the lowest record so far this year.
With this data, unemployment in the OECD has now been at 5% or below that threshold for five consecutive months. In July, the unemployment rate remained practically stable in 21 of the OECD countries with available data, while it decreased in six and increased in another six.
In three member states, the unemployment rate was at 3% or below, while only Finland (10.5%) and Spain (10%) reported double-digit figures, with an increase of two tenths in the Finnish case and a decrease of one tenth for the Spanish labor market compared to June.
In addition to Finland and Spain, at the top of the table of countries with the highest unemployment were Sweden (8.6%), France (8.3%), and Colombia and Turkey (both at 8.1%). At the opposite end, the lowest rates were recorded in Japan (2.4%), Mexico (2.7%), and South Korea (2.8%).
The total number of unemployed people in the OECD decreased by 220,000 during the seventh month of the year, bringing the total to 34.655 million unemployed, of which 11.264 million corresponded to the eurozone.
Among those under 25 years old, the OECD unemployment rate fell by two tenths to 11%, while unemployment among those over 25 remained unchanged at 4.2%.
In the youth unemployment ranking, Sweden (24.9%), Spain (23.8%), and Finland (23.6%) occupied the top positions. In contrast, the lowest levels of unemployment in this age group were observed in Japan (4%), Israel (4.2%), and Mexico (5.9%).