Trends in economic inactivity across the OECD

Abstract

As unemployment rates have reached historical lows across many OECD countries, it is important to focus on the economically inactivethat is people who are neither in a job nor seeking work. This paper reviews recent trends in economic inactivity across the OECD, focusing on places and people. The paper demonstrates the importance of moving beyond national averages to understand which regions and cities have higher levels of economic inactivity. It then looks at regional economic inactivity trends across cities in the United Kingdom (UK). JEL codes: J24, J21, J62, I26

Local entrepreneurship ecosystems and emerging industries

“…Notably, these UK structural problems include skills shortages, as identified in the Government's Made Smarter Review of 2017, and a tendency to encourage academic rather than vocational learning routes to enter the labour market. A range of OECD work has investigated these issues and potential policy responses in the case of the UK (OECD, 2020; OECD 2017a; OECD 2017b; OECD 2015; Barr et al, 2019). This section focuses on how they are manifested in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the local responses that CPCA and its partners are making.…”