How well labour markets function is a key driver of economic output and also bears on the cyclical path of an economy.  OECD work on labour market issues brought  together in the OECD Jobs Study Report of 1994 led to a set of country-specific recommendations included in the Country Surveys published from 1996 onwards.

Progress in implementing these recommendations and other structural reforms are periodically reviewed.  In 1997, Implementing the OECD Jobs Strategy - Lessons from Member Countries' Experience  was published, and Implementing the OECD Jobs Strategy: Assessing performance and policy in 1999.  An indepth review is scheduled for 2005.

Óther work looks at the interface between policies in the labour and product markets in order to identify how outcomes in one market are affected by policies in the other and assesses the policy relevance of their interaction.