OECD Unemployment Rate Hits Lowest Level in a Year at 4.9% in July 2026

Abu dhabi: The OECD unemployment rate reached 4.9% in July 2026, down from 5.0% in June and close to its historic low of 4.8% recorded in June 2023. The number of unemployed individuals in the OECD fell to 34.7 million, marking the lowest level in a year. According to Emirates News Agency, unemployment rates remained steady at 6.1% in the European Union and 6.4% in the euro area during July 2026. Japan, Mexico, and Korea maintained unemployment rates below 3.0%, the lowest among OECD countries. Conversely, Finland and Spain reported double-digit unemployment rates, with Finland nearly 5 percentage points above its historic low from nearly two decades ago. Compared with June 2026, unemployment rates remained broadly stable in July in most OECD countries, with 21 of the 33 OECD countries with available data. Similarly, among European Union OECD countries, unemployment rates remained broadly stable in 14 countries. In July 2026, the OECD youth unemployment rate for individuals aged 15-24 decreased by 0.2 perc entage points to 11.0%. However, it remained significantly higher by 6.8 percentage points than the rate for workers aged 25 and over, which has stayed around 4.2% since February 2022. Double-digit youth unemployment rates were recorded in 30 OECD countries, with rates exceeding 20% in Chile and seven OECD countries in the European Union. The unemployment rates for women and men in the OECD remained stable in July at 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively, leaving the OECD unemployment gender gap unchanged at 0.3 percentage points. The gender gap was also stable at 0.4 percentage points in both the European Union and the euro area. In the G7, it remained stable and negative at -0.3 percentage points.