Research subject
Research on employment, earnings, participation, skills and the demographic conditions shaping economic adjustment.
Employment, hours, wages and nonlabor income jointly affect household resources. A wage settlement for one group does not establish the change in earnings across the economy. Real purchasing power also depends on prices, taxes, transfers and the distribution of income.
An aging population can affect labor supply, saving and demand, but demographic categories do not determine individual economic behavior. Participation, migration, retirement institutions, health and care responsibilities influence the relationship between population and hours worked.
Research distinguishes a demographic projection from a forecast of employment or output. The behavioral assumptions connecting them require separate evidence.
Research Report
Indian employment outcomes depend on sector composition, hours, and the transition from investment to operating services. Official labor and industrial records and an original decomposition clarify the difference between output growth, formalization, and additional employment.
Read the analysisResearch Report
Population projections do not directly determine labor input. Evidence from four economies and an exact accounting exercise separate demographic change from participation, employment, hours, migration, and the productivity improvements required to sustain output.
Read the analysisEconomy Study
Japanese wage growth reaches consumption through hours, deductions, prices, and the distribution of household income. The analysis distinguishes employee earnings from the resources of working and retired households, showing why demographic composition changes the interpretation of aggregate spending.
Read the analysis20 publications
Research Report
Indian employment outcomes depend on sector composition, hours, and the transition from investment to operating services. Official labor and industrial records and an original decomposition clarify the difference between output growth, formalization, and additional employment.
Research Report
Population projections do not directly determine labor input. Evidence from four economies and an exact accounting exercise separate demographic change from participation, employment, hours, migration, and the productivity improvements required to sustain output.
Economy Study
Japanese wage growth reaches consumption through hours, deductions, prices, and the distribution of household income. The analysis distinguishes employee earnings from the resources of working and retired households, showing why demographic composition changes the interpretation of aggregate spending.
Economy Study
India's employment surveys distinguish job status from written contracts, paid leave, and social insurance. PLFS 2025 evidence shows why registration and salaried employment cannot alone establish job creation or comprehensive formalization, especially across changes in survey design.
Economy Study
Housing construction affects Australian labor mobility through location, delivery, and the cost of living near employment. This study connects productivity and project stages with the household budget that determines whether a move is worthwhile.
Economy Study
Korean household formation is outpacing population growth while aging and housing obligations reshape spending capacity. This study examines how smaller households, debt service, and employment continuity jointly influence domestic demand.
Economy Study
South Africa’s employment gap extends beyond headline unemployment to participation, hours, and access to productive jobs. This study reconciles survey denominators and examines how transport, firm growth, skills, and infrastructure constrain labor absorption.
Policy Brief
Workforce performance measures follow different populations and periods. WIOA reporting and a dated state result illustrate why participation, credentials, employment, and earnings need to be linked before evaluating training's additional economic benefit.
Policy Brief
Canadian immigration targets count categories that differ from new labor-market arrivals. This brief distinguishes admission status, existing residence, employment participation, and local service capacity when interpreting the 2026–2028 immigration plan.
Policy Brief
Korean family support affects employment through benefit timing, care availability, workplace coverage, and return prospects. This brief separates administrative take-up from sustained employment and examines the incentives facing parents and smaller employers.
Policy Brief
Singapore’s career-conversion support shares the cost of moving workers into different roles. This brief examines co-funding, training modes, additionality, and post-support outcomes to distinguish a funded placement from durable productive adjustment.
Policy Brief
Saudi workforce-localization measures influence hiring, substitution, training, and administrative counting. This brief examines the 2026 Nitaqat and Qiwa changes while distinguishing higher compliance shares from sustained productive employment and earnings.
Comparative Study
Demographic aging changes labor supply through age composition, participation and working hours. Japanese and Korean official evidence shows why continued employment, employment form and retirement from a main job require separate treatment in assessing the adjustment.
Comparative Study
U.S. industry productivity releases and India's factory survey require matched employment and output boundaries. A three-activity example separates the effects of sector mix, working schedules, productivity, and outsourcing on the apparent employment intensity of expansion.
Comparative Study
Canadian affordability estimates, Australian migration statistics, and English household projections measure different objects. A city-level adjustment example traces how household formation, construction delays, worker supply, and infrastructure capacity shape the transition after population growth.
Data Note
Payroll employment counts jobs, while household employment counts people across a broader range of work. Worked examples show how second jobs and shifts into self-employment can produce different movements without contradictory observations.
Data Note
Output per worker combines hourly productivity with average hours. A numerical decomposition shows how shorter working time can reduce output per person despite an increase in the output produced during each hour.
Data Note
Scheduled earnings, overtime and bonuses capture different components of pay. A wage-accounting example explains how total earnings can weaken despite a higher regular salary, and why workforce composition matters for averages.
Data Note
Unemployment and broader labor underutilization differ in both population coverage and denominator. A hypothetical labor-force transition shows why withdrawal from job search can lower unemployment without increasing employment or eliminating unmet work needs.
Economic Explainer
Participation, employment and hours describe successive margins of labor input. A population-to-hours identity explains why stronger employment does not necessarily imply greater working time or an equivalent improvement in household welfare.
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Browse economiesBrowse topicsA job count does not describe hours, contract security, social protection or productive opportunity. Informality and differences in survey coverage matter when comparing economies. Productivity and pay can also diverge across sectors, firms and worker groups.
The growth collection examines labor input in the outlook. Innovation research considers technological adoption and tasks. Monetary research follows the relationship between earnings, demand and inflation within the relevant institutional setting.