OECD warns unemployment to remain high in world's top economies

PARIS, July 16 (UPI) -- The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris warned Tuesday that unemployment would remain high among its member countries through 2014.

The organization that represents 34 of the world's developed economies said the jobless rate would decline "only slightly over the next 18 months."

The OECD predicted the unemployment rate among its members, at 8 percent in May, would drop to 7.8 percent by the end of 2014, "leaving 48 million people out of work" among its members, which includes the United States, France, Germany, Mexico, China, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Japan, Britain and Canada.

Among the larger economies, the United States is a standout with unemployment predicted to shrink below 7 percent by the end of 2014, down from its current 7.6 percent. In Germany, the largest economy in Europe, the unemployment rate should drop from 5.3 percent to under 5 percent, the organization said in its Employment Outlook 2013 report.

Germany is the exception in Europe. "In the rest of Europe, joblessness will remain flat or even rise in many countries," the report said.

By numbers, the unemployment rate at the end of 2014 is expected to be 11 percent in France, "around 12.5 percent in Italy," and in the vicinity of 28 percent in Spain and Greece, the report said.