OECD unemployment rate down to 5.2% in September 2018

The OECD unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.2% in September 2018. Across the OECD, 33.1m people were unemployed, only 0.4m more than in April 2008.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate was stable at 8.1% in September, with rates falling by 0.3 percentage point in Portugal (to 6.6%) and by 0.2 percentage point in Belgium (to 6.3%), Ireland (to 5.4%), Latvia (to 7.2%), Luxembourg (to 5.0%) and the Netherlands (to 3.7%). By contrast, the unemployment rate in Italy increased by 0.3 percentage point, to 10.1%, after having decreased by 0.4 percentage point in the previous month.

In September, the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage point in Australia (to 5.0%), by 0.2 percentage point in Korea (to 4.0%) and the United States (to 3.7%, the lowest level since December 1969), and by 0.1 percentage point in Canada (to 5.9%) and Japan (to 2.3%), while it was stable in Mexico (at 3.3%). More recent data for October show that the unemployment rate declined further, by 0.1 percentage point, in Canada (to 5.8%), while it was stable in the United States.

The OECD unemployment rate for youth (people aged 15 to 24) remained stable at 11% in September, while the rate for people aged 25 and above declined by 0.1 percentage point, to 4.5%. The youth unemployment rate remained above 30% in Italy (31.6%), Spain (34.3%) and Greece (37.9% in July, the latest month available).