LABOR MARKET

 
Labor-market policy has been tested in the last several years as in almost no other period in the last half century. The effects of financial crisis and a steep drop in worldwide demand rippled naturally into labor markets, with sometimes appalling results.

The various labor-market policy models pursued across the OECD were thus tested more rigorously, and with greater simultaneity, than has been usual. Unemployment rates at the crisis’ peak varied widely, and continue to do so, with much of this variance related to policy decisions.

As the world economy recovers, more traditional questions of labor productivity and mobility, skills development, work incentives and active labor market policies are returning to prominence. Long-term or structural unemployment has nevertheless become a pressing issue in countries with formerly vibrant labor markets, while specific groups of workers, such as young people and foreigners, continue to be a concern across the OECD.