Unemployment in rich economies may have peaked, but 17 million new jobs were needed to return to pre-crisis employment levels, a group has said.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said job creation had “to be a top priority for governments”.

Creating jobs at the same time as cutting deficits was “a daunting challenge”, the group added.

It said there was a risk that millions may lose touch with the labour market.

“High joblessness as the new normal can not be accepted and has to be tackled by a comprehensive policy strategy,” OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said.
Maintaining support

Of the 17 million jobs that have been shed during the downturn, 10 million have been lost in the US, the group of 31 developed nations said.

In Spain, which has the highest rate of unemployment in the OECD area at 19.9%, 2.5 million jobs have been lost.

In total, there are 47 million people unemployed in the area, but that number could be 80 million if those who have given up looking for work, or those working part-time but looking for full-time work, are taken into account, the group said.