OECD warns unemployment will rise in 2010

PARIS — Unemployment in the 30 most developed market democracies of the world will continue to rise next year to reach almost 10 percent by the end of 2010, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday.

More than 57 million people will be unemployed in the 30 countries making up the OECD at the end of 2010, up from 37.2 million at the end of 2008, the international body said in a report.

That will take OECD-wide unemployment to 9.9 percent, its highest level since the 1970s, the OECD said.

In April, the OECD’s average unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.

“Unemployment will continue to weigh on national economies for a long time to come,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria. “Previous downturns have taught us that the jobs recovery will lag a long way behind the pickup in economic growth,” Gurria said in a statement.

The report comes a day before the OECD is to publish its latest economic outlook for its membership countries.

In its report last November, the OECD forcast its members’ economic output would likely shrink by 0.4 percent this year.