OECD employment and labour force participation (LFP) rates remained broadly stable at 70.2% and 73.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024, close to their peaks recorded in the previous quarter (Figure 1). Both indicators were at or near their record highs in 11 of the 38 OECD countries, including Germany, Japan, and Türkiye (Tables 1 and 2).
In Q4 2024, the employment rate exceeded the OECD average of 70.2% in two-thirds of OECD countries. Among G7 countries, employment rates in Italy and France remained below the OECD average. Türkiye remained the OECD country with the lowest employment rate, at 55.2%. By contrast, employment rates were above 80% in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Iceland (Figure 2). Employment rates were stable in 14 OECD countries compared with the previous quarter, while they fell in 15 and rose in 9 (Table 1).
LFP rates for individuals aged 15 to 64 were higher than the OECD average of 73.9% in almost three-quarters of OECD countries in Q4 2024. Türkiye, Mexico, and Italy recorded the lowest rates (Table 2).
For all of 2024, the OECD employment rate was slightly higher than for 2023 (up by 0.2 percentage points [p.p.]), reflecting mainly an increase in the labour force participation rate. In the euro area, the employment rate increased by 0.4 p.p., reflecting both falling unemployment rates and rising participation rates. The largest year-on-year increases in the employment rate were recorded in Greece (up by 1.5 p.p.), Iceland (up by 1.6 p.p.), and Costa Rica (up 2.4 by p.p.), reflecting primarily, even exclusively in Iceland, rising labour force participation rates. In some countries, including Germany and the United States, the increase in labour force participation, was offset almost entirely by an increase in the unemployment rate, resulting in little or no change in the employment rate. By contrast, a decline in the employment rate of more than 1.0 p.p. was recorded in New Zealand, Finland and Canada, reflecting both rising unemployment and falling participation rates (Figure 3).
In February 2025, the OECD unemployment rate held steady at 4.8%, having been at or below 5.0% since April 2022 (Table 3 and Figure 4). The unemployment rate reached record lows in the European Union (5.7%) and the euro area (6.1%). Compared with January, February unemployment rates were unchanged in 22 OECD countries, declined in 7, and rose in Czechia and Finland, with women accounting for the larger share of this rise. The unemployment rates remained broadly stable in Canada at 6.7% and in the United States at 4.2% in March 2025. In February 2025, the OECD unemployment rate was broadly stable for both women and men as well as for younger workers and workers aged 25 and above (Tables 5 and 6)
Figure 1 – Labour market situation in the OECD area
Employment, labour force and inactive population, Q4 2024, and unemployment, February 2025, seasonally adjusted
Methodology
Release dates
- Next release: 9 July 2025
- All release dates
Contact us
For further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media Relations Division on (33) 1 45 24 97 00; others should contact the Statistics and Data Directorate