The aim of this study was to analyze how the relation between unemployment and innovation activity can affect the productivity of the economy through its impact on the export structure. The results of research carried out on a group of 69 countries in the years 1996-2016 indicate that the nature of the relationship between the unemployment rate and innovation activity may affect both positive and negative changes in the technological sophistication production structure and thus exports. In our study also occurs a two-way relationship between the increase in expenditure on R&D activity and the decline in the unemployment rate. This means that the decrease in the unemployment rate may impact the growth of innovation activity, which in turn generates a further decline in the unemployment rate. In line with expectations, this is more typical for higher-income countries, already possessing a sufficiently developed economic structure and a well-functioning labor market.