Report: Unemployment to Rise in OECD Countries

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts unemployment will go up in the world's leading economies. A report issued Wednesday shows the average unemployment rate in the 30 OECD countries rising to six percent next year, reversing the downward trend of past years. The OECD attributes increased joblessness to a worldwide economic slowdown. A series of studies of U.S. employment released Wednesday shows the American job market declining and some economists predict the picture will get worse. On-line help-wanted advertising is down, the number of corporate layoffs is up 47 percent from this time last year, and a company that provides employee services says private firms cut 79,000 jobs in June. The U.S. economy has been hurt by tightened standards for loans and a collapse in the housing sector, which... [read full story]