The OECD unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in July 2026, its lowest level in a year. The number of unemployed people across the organization declined to 34.7 million. The rate eased from 5.0% in June and moved closer to the OECD’s historic low of 4.8%, recorded in June 2023.
Unemployment was broadly stable across most OECD economies in July. Rates were unchanged in 21 of the 33 countries with available data. The European Union unemployment rate held at 6.1% in July, while the euro area rate stayed at 6.4%.
Japan, Mexico and South Korea recorded unemployment rates below 3%, the lowest levels among OECD countries. Finland and Spain, in contrast, reported unemployment rates in double digits. Finland’s unemployment rate was also nearly 5 percentage points above its historic low recorded almost two decades ago.
The labor market picture was weaker for younger workers. The OECD youth unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 fell by 0.2 percentage points to 11.0% in July. The figure was still 6.8 percentage points higher than the unemployment rate for workers aged 25 and above. That rate held at around 4.2% since February 2022.
Youth unemployment remained above 10% in 30 OECD countries. Rates crossed 20% in Chile and seven OECD countries in the European Union. The gender gap in unemployment was unchanged. The rate stood at 5.1% for women and 4.8% for men, leaving a gap of 0.3 percentage points.
The OECD said the gender gap was also stable at 0.4 percentage points in both the European Union and the euro area. In the G7, the gap remained negative at -0.3 percentage points.
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