Market conditions are improving, but unemployment is still declining too slowly and unevenly across countries. It is projected to continue its slow decline, reaching 6.6% in the last quarter of 2016 while remaining above 20% in Greece and Spain. Weak real wage growth remains an issue of concern, particularly in the Euro area. Minimum wages can help underpin the income of low-paid workers, but must be closely coordinated with tax-benefit policies to be effective. Wage inequality has been rising in a large majority of OECD countries. To minimise the wage gap, investing in skills is crucial – particularly where skills are scarce relative to demand. In terms of job quality, emerging economies perform worse than OECD countries. Youth, low-skilled and informal workers typically hold the poorest quality jobs. To make labour markets more inclusive, activation policies have to be designed to improve the employability, expand the opportunities and maintain the motivation of jobseekers.