The rate has declined from earlier levels but exceeds the 0.8 percent level in European countries and is still comparable to the 1.8 percent level in the United States. At present, the percentage of the population aged 15 or older that is in  BIS Review 123/2010  3  employment, that is, the employment rate, is about 60 percent.
If this rate declines further with the aging of the population, raising productivity will become an even more critical challenge. In attempting to raise productivity, it is important to recognize that, given the fierce global competition, doing so by cost reduction and improvement in cost structure alone has its own limits for the economy as a whole.