Global jobs market hits soft spot

 Improvement in the jobs market appears to have stalled in recent months, according to data released on Thursday, amid rising concern of a slowdown in the global economy.
While the unemployment rate in the 34 advanced nations in the OECD dipped by 0.1 points to 7.3 percent in August, there has not been significant improvement since the beginning of the year.
The OECD unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in the final quarter of last year.
The International Monetary Fund warned of stagnation in advanced economies on Tuesday when it trimmed its growth forecast for the whole world by 0.1 percentage point to 3.3 percent.
After a drop from 6.7 percent to 6.3 percent in April, the US jobless rate has improved only to 6.1 percent in August, according to OECD harmonised data for international comparison.
The situation is similar for the eurozone, where the jobless rate has been stuck at 11.5 percent for several months after coming down slightly from 11.9 percent in the beginning of the year.
Japan scored a 0.3-point drop in August to 3.5 percent, but this brings it back to the level of the first quarter after rising for several months.
Korea has been on a similar trend, with its jobless rate edging up 0.1 points to 3.5 percent in August.
While there is a lag in the delay from Britain, the non-eurozone country appears to be posting steady reductions in the unemployment rate. At 6.2 percent in June, the jobless rate was down considerably from the 7.1 percent in the final quarter of last year.
The overall eurozone rate masks the diverging fortunes of its members.
While steady at 10.5 percent in France in August, the jobless rate is up from 10.2 percent in the final quarter of last year.
It has held roughly steady in Germany and Italy in recent months, but there have been improvements in Spain, Austria and the Netherlands.