OECD jobless rate steady at 4.9% in July, youth joblessness dips

Japan, Korea, and Slovenia recorded jobless rates below 3 per cent, near record lows, while 14 countries remained over 1 percentage point (pp) above their historic lows. Women’s and men’s unemployment stayed at 5.0 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively, OECD said in a release.

Youth unemployment (15–24 years) dropped to 11.2 per cent compared with 11.4 per cent in June, still 7.1 pp above workers aged 25 and over. The youth unemployment rate exceeded that of workers aged 25 and over in all OECD countries in July 2025 or in the latest period available. The smallest gaps were seen in Japan and Germany, both under 3 pp and largest (over 15 pp) in Costa Rica, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia.

EU and euro area unemployment stayed at 5.9 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively. Greece’s drop was driven by men over 25, Austria by young men, while women over 25 raised Portugal’s rate.

Outside the euro area, the unemployment rate was stable in most OECD countries in July 2025. Turkiye hit a record low of 8 per cent, last seen in June 2012, with men over 25 driving gains. August data showed Canada’s rate rising to 7.1 per cent, while US unemployment held at 4.3 per cent, 0.5 and 0.3 pp higher than in January 2025, respectively.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (HU)