The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says the jobless rate will approach 10 per in the latter half of 2010, as the global economic recovery looks set for only a timid recovery.

That compares to the current postwar high of 8.3 per cent in its 30 members countries, as of last June.

The Paris-based watchdog calls the short-term jobs outlook “grim,” adding that labour market conditions appear set to deteriorate further in the coming months.

It also says there is a risk that the rise in joblessness could result in a permanently higher unemployment level that could take many years to bring back down.

Canada's jobless rate rose to 8.6 per cent in June. The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.5 per cent. The OECD says nearly 15 million people have joined the ranks of the jobless since the end of 2007.

The OECD said that there is great uncertainty looking forward, noting that its own forecasts are for “a rather muted recovery surfacing only in the first half of 2010.”

Under this scenario, the number of unemployed in the OECD will rise by more than 25 million people in less than three years, comparable to the job losses over the 10-year period until the early 1980s, the report noted.