La Jornada: There is record employment in OECD countries

The employment rate of the 37 countries incorporated into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was on average 72.1 percent in the first quarter of 2026, which means that it has reached historically high levels, the organization highlighted in its Employment Outlook 2026 report.

The organization estimates that the pace of global growth will show a considerable slowdown in the second quarter of this year, and then gradually rebound. With this evolution, employment is expected to rise at a moderate pace this year and increase slightly in 2027.

“The median unemployment rate in OECD economies is projected to continue rising in 2026.” He argued that new signs of weakening have emerged, characterized by a slight increase in unemployment, and the stagnation of some labor trends, while structural labor shortages persist.

The OECD stated that the highest unemployment rates are recorded in the group of young people seeking to enter the labor market for the first time compared to the rest of the working-age population. Added to this problem is that the recovery shown in real wages began to slow down.

“In a third of OECD countries, real wages remained below levels at the beginning of 2021, just before the inflationary spike in 2022.” In the last two years, employment rate growth has been strongest in southern Europe, that is, in Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain, as well as in Japan and Lithuania.

Looking ahead, geopolitical uncertainty, rising tariffs and high energy prices are expected to lead to increased inflation and further slow the recovery of the labor market and wages.

He stated that the lack of a peace agreement in the Middle East would lead to considerably worse economic and employment outcomes and could have adverse repercussions for a broader range of countries or sectors.

“In the near future, economic activity and, therefore, labor markets, will be largely determined by the evolution of the energy crisis, the time necessary to reach a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East and the consequent economic policy responses,” highlighted the OECD.

In the first quarter of 2026, in both the euro zone and the United States, labor market tension was close to or below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

In the old continent, the tension was in sectors such as the arts and entertainment, while in the United States it was concentrated in finance and insurance. Both territories faced pressures in the manufacturing sector.