The US labour market continues its slow recovery from the 2008-09 recession, but the unemployment rate remains significantly higher than before the financial crisis

Education at a Glance 2012: Country Notes - United States

Education at a Glance 2012: Country Notes - United States

The Secretary-General of the OECD, Mr. Angel Gurría, will be in Washington to attend the International Monetary Fund / World Bank Spring Meetings, as well as the G20 meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

Cities can generate growth and jobs while becoming greener – this is the message of the OECD’s new Green Growth in Cities report. Drawing on case studies of Paris, Chicago, Kitakyushu and Stockholm, the report identifies green policies that can respond to urban growth priorities and suggests how to implement and finance them.

The OECD was born transatlantic since its very origins as the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation in 1948, established in the immediate post-war period to manage and distribute Marshall Plan aid to reconstruct Europe. The centre of gravity of the world economy is now shifting and will continue to do so but this does not mean that the Transatlantic Partnership has a lesser role to play on the global stage, said Angel Gurría.

The Secretary-General of the OECD, Mr. Angel Gurría, will be in Washington on 2-3 December 2013, to present the results of the 2013 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), alongside Mr. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education of the United States. The Secretary-General will also meet with several high-level US officials.

Note summarising the performance of 15-year-old students in the United States in the PISA 2012 assessment of mathematics, reading and science

Inequality is a multi-dimensional challenge, it goes beyond income and it affects the wellbeing of our people. We need a multidisciplinary policy response and that’s what the Inclusive Growth initiative that we are launching in the OECD will provide.

This note presents key findings for the United States from Society at a Glance 2014 - OECD Social indicators. This 2014 publication also provides a special chapter on: the crisis and its aftermath: a “stress test” for societies and for social policies.

A moderate recovery is under way in major advanced economies after two years of subdued growth. Overall, most indications point to a continued underlying strengthening of the pace of growth, helped by accommodative monetary policy and reduced fiscal drag.

When it comes to well-being, American users of the OECD Better Life Index (BLI) want to be happy, Canadians care most about health, while Latin Americans strive for better education. That’s according to user feedback as the Index marks its third birthday.

Soaring obesity rates make the US the fattest country in the OECD, with 36.5% of obese adults. Roughly 70% of US adults are overweight, which corresponds to the second highest rate in the OECD (just after Mexico, 71.3%).

The most effective policy tool kit to address high inequalities and to extend opportunities is one that combines education and job training measures, policies to boost job creation, and reforms to make the tax and benefit system and public services more efficient.

Country notes highlight some key findings from TALIS 2013 for individual countries and economies

Gains made towards slowing health expenditure growth in the United States in recent years could be negated by price increases associated with the continuing economic recovery unless more efforts are made to contain spending, says a new OECD paper published in The Lancet.

The USA has exceptional levels of health-care expenditure, but growth slowed dramatically in recent years, amidst major efforts to close the coverage gap with other OECD countries.

PISA 2012 financial literacy results focusing on the performance of the United States among 17 other countries and economies who participated in the assessment: Australia, Belgium (Flemish Community), Shanghai-China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Israel, Italy, Latvia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Spain

The proportion of adults in the U.S. population with a tertiary qualification is growing more slowly than in most OECD countries, while fewer Americans are achieving an educational level which is higher than that of their parents, a new OECD study finds.

OECD Secretary-General was in New York from 22 to 25 to attend the United Nations Climate Summit, in which he moderated a panel discussion on “The Economic Case for Action”. He also held bilateral meetings with several world leaders attending the Summit and UN high level officials.

The UN Climate Summit took place on 23 September 2014 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The OECD's Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, chaired the session on "The Economic Case for Climate Action," where global leaders discussed The New Climate Economy Report: Better Growth, Better Climate, by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

On the occasion of the OECD High Level Policy Forum on Migration taking place on December 1 and 2 2014, Secretary General Angel Gurria congratulates President Obama on taking action to address the unsustainable situation of undocumented immigrants.

The tax burden in the United States of America increased by 1percentage point from 24.4% to 25.4% in 2013. The OECD average was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 33.7% to 34.1%. The United States is the only OECD country that employs a retail sales tax rather than a value added tax (VAT) as the principal consumption tax.

Going for Growth 2015: Key findings for United States

In his speech delivered at the Brookings Institute, OECD Secretary-General Gurría explains that OECD’s numbers tell a clear-cut story of how our traditional economic growth agenda has neglected inclusiveness. Yet to begin to tackle this problem, we have to understand that inequality is not just about money. It touches every area of people’s lives.

This country note provides information on latest trends in income inequalities as well as key findings from the 2015 OECD report "In it Together: Why less inequality benefits all".

The United States has been successful at reducing the mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) but the burden of CVD and diabetes is increasing rapidly.

It is often said that the United States is a nation of immigrants. Is the US still the best place to settle in?

Life expectancy in the United States is lower than in most other OECD countries for several reasons, including poorer health-related behaviours and the highly fragmented nature of the US health system. The proportion of adults who smoke in the United States is among the lowest in OECD countries, but alcohol consumption is rising and obesity rate is the highest.

The 2015 edition introduces more detailed analysis of participation in early childhood and tertiary levels of education. The report also examines first generation tertiary-educated adults’ educational and social mobility, labour market outcomes for recent graduates, and participation in employer-sponsored formal and/or non-formal education.

This 4-page online document presents the key findings from OECD Pensions at a Glance 2015 and why it is important for the United States. It also identifies two key pension policy measures which would help improve the performance of pension systems in the United States.

President Barack Obama held a press conference at the OECD with international media on COP21 and Syria as his trip to Paris draws to a close. See photos of the event.

In 2012, 26% of students in the United States (U.S.) were low performers in mathematics (OECD average: 23%), 17% were low performers in reading (OECD average: 18%), 18% were low performers in science (OECD average: 18%), and 12% were low performers in all three of these subjects (OECD average: 12%)

Mayors from cities across the United States, Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America gathered in New York to launch a global campaign to address rising inequalities and foster inclusive growth in their cities, in their countries and worldwide.

Improving opportunities for women in the United States

This country note provides an environmental tax and carbon pricing profile for the United States. It shows environmentally related tax revenues, taxes on energy use and effective carbon rates.

The number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) remains elevated in many countries since the crisis. This country note examines the characteristics of those at risk of being NEET in the United States with policies to help meet the challenge. It also includes many new youth-specific indicators on family formation, self-sufficiency, income and poverty, health and social cohesion.

This country note presents student performance in science, reading and mathematics, and measures equity in education in the United States. The interactive charts allow you to compare results with other countries participating in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

This country note presents student performance in science, reading and mathematics, and measures equity in education in the United States.

The United States has maintained foreign aid volumes through the aftermath of the global economic crisis and has visibly improved the focus and effectiveness of its development assistance. These trends should be maintained and reforms to the U.S. Agency for International Development should be consolidated, according to a new OECD Review.

Selected findings for the United States from the report "The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle"

Selected findings for the United States from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

The OECD will hold a public consultation event on the tax challenges of digitalisation on 1 November at the University of California, Berkeley, United States.

This note presents selected country highlights from the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017 with a specific focus on digital trends among all themes covered.

Key findings for the United States from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2017"

This note presents marginal effective tax rates (METRs) that summarise the tax system’s impact on the incentives to make an additional investment in a particular type of savings. By comparing METRs on different types of household savings, we can gain insights into which assets or savings types receive the most favourable treatment from the tax system.

A broken social elevator? Key findings for United States

These graphs offer a brief summary of the commodity trade situation in the country.

Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, welcomes the positive outcome of the trade negotiations, carried out by the representatives of Mexico and the United States, which will be joined by Canada shortly.