In the second quarter of 2023, most selected countries experienced mild reductions in unemployment rates relative to the previous quarter, reflecting the strong tightness of national labor markets. Two noteworthy exceptions are France and the United States, whose unemployment rate increased slightly, but not significantly. The OECD economic outlook expects unemployment to increase and to stabilize at 5.2% in 2024. This projection follows from the current tightening of the monetary policy by the ECB and the Federal Reserve to slow down inflation.