OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria urged governments on Thursday to take immediate action against youth and long-term unemployment or risk seeing the problem become more deeply entrenched. Delivering an annual survey on unemployment in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, Gurria said states in southern Europe, as well as France, Britain and the United States, must stimulate job creation and economic growth.
This would require a balancing act between the fiscal consolidation needed to calm bond markets and the hiring subsidies and incentives needed to encourage job growth, along with a re-calibration of social protection schemes, he said.