OECD unemployment rate stable at 5.2% in November 2018
The OECD unemployment rate remained stable at 5.2% in November 2018, 3 percentage points below the January 2013 peak. Across the OECD, 33.2 million people were unemployed.
In the euro area, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level since October 2008, declining by 0.1 percentage point in November, to 7.9%, with decreases of 0.2 percentage point in Luxembourg (to 5.0%) and the Netherlands (to 3.5%). Among European countries outside the euro area, the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point in the Czech Republic (to 1.9%), while it rose by 0.2 percentage point in Denmark (to 4.9%).
Outside Europe, the unemployment rate fell for the third consecutive month in Canada (by 0.2 percentage point to 5.6%) and Korea (by 0.1 percentage point to 3.8%). The unemployment rate also fell by 0.1 percentage point in the United States (to 3.7%) but rose by 0.1 percentage point in Australia (to 5.1%), Japan (to 2.5%) and Mexico (to 3.3%). More recent data for December show that the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point in the United States, to 3.9%, and was unchanged at 5.6% in Canada.
The OECD unemployment rate for youth (people aged 15 to 24) declined by 0.1 percentage point in November, to 11.0%, back to its July level. In the euro area, after two consecutive monthly increases, the youth unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point, to 16.9%, with declines of 0.5 percentage point or more in Austria, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, and increases of 0.2 percentage point in France and Latvia. The youth unemployment rate remains above 30% in Italy (31.6%), Spain (34.1%) and Greece (38.5% in October, the latest month available).
