The OECD area unemployment rate continued to decline slightly in March 2021, to 6.5% (from 6.6% in February 2021). It remained 1.2 percentage points above the rate observed in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the labour market.[1]
In March, a marginal decline of the unemployment rate was also observed in the euro area, (to 8.1 %, from 8.2 % in February 2021), where the largest falls (0.2 percentage point or more) were registered in Finland (to 7.7 %), Lithuania (to 8.9 %), Portugal (to 6.5 %) and Spain (to 15.3 %).
Outside Europe, the unemployment rate decreased in March in most countries: by 0.7 percentage point in Canada (to 7.5 %), 0.5 percentage point in Colombia (to 13.8 %), 0.3 percentage point in Japan (to 2.6 %), and 0.2 percentage point in Australia (to 5.6 %), Mexico (to 4.3 %) and the United States (to 6.0 %). By contrast, it rose by 0.3 percentage point, to 5.4 %, in Israel. More recent data show that in April the unemployment rate rose by 0.6 percentage point in Canada (to 8.1 %) and by 0.1 percentage point in the United States (to 6.1 %).
The OECD youth unemployment rate (people aged 15 to 24) decreased further in March, to 13.3 % (from 13.6 % in February), still 2.0 percentage points above its pre-pandemic level (February 2020).
More generally, it should be noted that unemployment statistics do not account for the full amount of labour market slack due to COVID-19, as some non-employed people may be classified as “out of the labour force”, because, due to the pandemic, they are either not able to actively look for a job or are not available to work.[2]
Note : Employment and unemployment statistics during the COVID-19 crisis
The broad comparability of unemployment data across OECD countries is achieved through the adherence of national statistics to International Guidelines from the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) – the so-called ILO guidelines.
Departures from these guidelines may however exist across countries depending on national circumstances (e.g. statistical environment, national regulations and practices). Typically, these departures have only a limited impact on broad comparability of employment and unemployment statistics. However, the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 is amplifying divergences and affects the cross-country comparability of unemployment statistics in this news release.
This concerns in particular the treatment of persons on temporary layoff or employees furloughed by their employers. These are persons not at work during the survey reference week due to economic reasons and business conditions (i.e. lack of work, shortage of demand for goods and services, business closures or business moves).
According to ILO guidelines, ‘employed’ persons include those who, in their present job, were ‘not at work’ for a short duration but maintained a job attachment during their absence (ILO, 2013 and 2020). Job attachment is determined on the basis of the continued receipt of remuneration, and/or the total duration of the absence. In practice, formal or continued job attachment is established when :
o the expected total duration of the absence is up to three months (which can be more than three months, if the return to employment in the same economic unit is guaranteed and, in the case of the pandemic, once the restrictions in place – where applicable – are lifted)
OR
o workers continue to receive remuneration from their employer, including partial pay, even if they also receive support from other sources, including government schemes.
In turn persons are classified as ‘not employed’ if:
o The expected total duration of absence is greater than three months or there is no or unknown expected return to the same economic unit
AND
o People in this condition do not receive any part of their remuneration from their employer.
Not-employed persons are classified as ‘unemployed’ if they fulfil the criteria of active “job search” and “availability” specified for the measurement of unemployment.
However, departures from these guidelines in national practices do exist. In particular, in North America persons on temporary layoff are considered to be “only weakly or not at all attached to their job and are to be counted as unemployed” (Sorrentino, 2000). In the United States, people on temporary layoff are classified as ‘unemployed’ if they expect to be recalled to their job within six months. If they have not been given a date to return to work by their employer and if they have no expectation to return to work within six months, they need to fulfil the “job search” criteria to be classified as ‘unemployed’. For the latest US figures “people who were effectively laid off due to pandemic-related closures were counted among the unemployed on temporary layoff” without further testing for their return to their previous job (BLS, 2020). In Canada, persons in temporary layoff are also classified as ‘unemployed’ if they have a date of return or an indication that they will be recalled by their employers.
Conversely, persons on temporary layoff are classified as employed (not at work) in Europe, as recommended by the ILO Guidelines (Eurostat, 2016). In practice, formal job attachment is tested on the basis of (i) an assurance of return to work within a period of three months or (ii) the receipt of half or more of their wage or salary from their employer. Somewhat stricter than ILO guidance, absences during COVID-19 crisis whose duration is unknown are treated as absences longer than three months. Those failing to satisfy these two criteria are classified as unemployed if they are “available to start work” (over the next two weeks) and have actively searched for a job in the last four weeks. All other persons on layoff are classified as inactive.
b: Break in time series
* For this country, data for the most recent month or quarter in this table is not available.
Notes:
(1) Austria: Data from January 2021 onwards are estimations.
(2) Canada: Unemployment rate for April 2021 was 8.1%.
(3) Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Turkey: from January 2021, data are compliant with the new Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS) Framework Regulation, while prior to this date, data refer to the former definition.
(4) Germany: Due to the introduction of the new German system of integrated household surveys, data from January 2020 onwards are estimations.
(5) Italy and Portugal: Data are provisional.
(6) Mexico: April, May and June 2020 monthly figures are based on the INEGI ETOE phone survey. These data are not strictly comparable with the results for earlier months. Data from July 2020 are based on the New ENOE survey, combining telephone and face-to-face interviews.
(7) United States: Unemployment rate for April 2021 was 6.1%.
b: Break in time series
* For this country, data for the most recent month or quarter in this table are not available.
Notes:
(1) Austria: Data from January 2021 onwards are estimations.
(2) Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden: from January 2021, data are compliant with the new Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS) Framework Regulation, while prior to this date, data refer to the former definition.
(3) Germany: Due to the introduction of the new German system of integrated household surveys, data from January 2020 onwards are estimations.
(4) Italy and Portugal: Data are provisional.
(5) Mexico: April, May and June 2020 monthly figures are based on the INEGI ETOE phone survey. These data are not strictly comparable with the results for earlier months. Data from July 2020 are based on the New ENOE survey, combining telephone and face-to-face interviews.
(6) Norway: data for time periods in this table are not available.
(7) Turkey: Due to changes introduced in the Labour Force Survey, data by gender from January 2014 onwards are OECD estimates.
b: Break in time series
* For this country data for the most recent month or quarter in this table are not available.
Notes:
(1) Austria: Data from January 2021 onwards are estimations.
(2) Belgium and Slovenia: For youth unemployment, quarterly data are shown.
(3) Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Turkey: from January 2021, data are compliant with the new Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS) Framework Regulation, while prior to this date, data refer to the former definition.
(4) Germany: Due to the introduction of the new German system of integrated household surveys, data from January 2020 onwards are estimations.
(5) Israel: Data shown in this table are not seasonally adjusted.
(6) Italy and Portugal: Data are provisional.
(7) Mexico: April, May and June 2020 monthly figures are based on the INEGI ETOE phone survey. These data are not strictly comparable with the results for earlier months. Data from July 2020 are based on the New ENOE survey, combining telephone and face-to-face interviews.
(8) Norway: data for time periods in this table are not available.
Table 4: Unemployment Levels, s.a.
b: Break in time series
* For this country, data for the most recent month or quarter in this table is not available.
Notes:
(1) Austria: Data from January 2021 onwards are estimations.
(2) Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden and Turkey: from January 2021, data are compliant with the new Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS) Framework Regulation, while prior to this date, data refer to the former definition.
(3) Germany: Due to the introduction of the new German system of integrated household surveys, data from January 2020 onwards are estimations.
(4) Italy and Portugal: Data are provisional.
(5) Mexico: April, May and June 2020 monthly figures are based on the INEGI ETOE phone survey. These data are not strictly comparable with the results for earlier months. Data from July 2020 are based on the New ENOE survey, combining telephone and face-to-face interviews.