In OECD Countries, Pandemic Has Killed 13.5 Million Jobs
The unemployment rate in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) fell by 0.6 percentage point (pp) in August to 7.4 percent, but remained 2.2 pp higher than in February, before the labor market damaged by a coronavirus pandemic.
In OECD Countries, Pandemic Has Killed 13.5 Million Jobs
The unemployment rate in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) fell by 0.6 percentage point (pp) in August to 7.4 percent, but remained 2.2 pp higher than in February, before the labor market damaged by a coronavirus pandemic.Within the OECD, there were a total of 48.4 million unemployed, which was 13.5 million more than in February.However, the OECD, which reported on Monday, said caution was needed in interpreting the August decline in unemployment.The decline largely reflects the return to work of those who have been temporarily laid off in the United States and Canada.In the euro area, where temporary redundancies were not included in unemployment statistics, the unemployment rate continued to rise in August, rising to 8.1 percent from 8 percent in July.In Canada, unemployment fell by 0.7 pp to 10.2 percent in August, and in the United States it fell by 1.8 pp to 8.4 percent.However, if the temporary redundancies were not included among the unemployed, unemployment in Canada would be 3.9 pp higher in August than in February and in the USA it would be 1.6 pp higher.