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 means fewer jobs for people building and financing construction.
A more detailed look at the U.S. job market will be available Thursday when the government publishes reports on the number of people signing up for unemployment assistance, the net change in the number of jobs in the economy, and the unemployment rate.
Analysts interviewed by the Bloomberg financial news service predict that the economy will have another net loss of jobs, while the number of new layoffs will be about the same as last month and the unemployment rate will stay at 5.5 percent.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
