OECD unemployment rate stable at 6.5% in February 2016

Transcription

1 OECD unemployment rate stable at 6.5% in February 2016 The OECD unemployment rate was stable at 6.5% in February 2016, 1.6 percentage point below the January 2013 peak. Across the OECD area, 40 million people were unemployed, 8.8 million less than in January 2013, but still 7.5 million more than in April 2008, before the crisis. In February 2016, the euro area unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage point, to 10.3%, with the largest fall recorded in the Slovak Republic (down 0.2 percentage point, to 10.3%). The unemployment rate was stable in the United States (at 4.9%) and Mexico (at 4.2%), while it increased by 0.1 percentage point in Canada (to 7.3%) and Japan (to 3.3%). More recent data show that in March 2016, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point in the United States (to 5.0%), while it decreased by 0.2 percentage point (to 7.1%) in Canada. The OECD unemployment rate for youth (people aged 15 to 24) increased by 0.2 percentage point (to 13.2%) in February 2016, after having followed a downward trend since January Youth unemployment for several euro area countries with the highest rates, such as Greece, Portugal, the Slovak Republic and Spain, have declined significantly since January In Italy, the decline started later, in September 2014, and proceeded at a slower rate, whereas in France, youth unemployment remained broadly stable. OECD Harmonised Unemployment rates, s.a. All persons Youth 13 Euro area Japan United States OECD Total 65 France Italy Slovak Republic Greece Portugal Spain Methodological Notes: All rates and levels quoted are seasonally adjusted (s.a.). New Labour Market Statistics: Country The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Contacts: For further information readers are invited to contact the OECD's Media Relations Division on (33) or news.contact@oecd.org For technical questions contact stat.contact@oecd.org Next release: Thursday, 12 May

2 Table 1: OECD Unemployment Rates, s.a. Percentage of active population Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb OECD - Total Major Seven European Union Euro area Australia Austria Belgium Canada (1) Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey (2) United Kingdom United States (3) Notes: (1) Canada: Unemployment rate for March 2016 was 7.1%. (2) Following the changes introduced in the Labour Force Survey for Turkey, data from January 2014 onwards are not comparable with previous data. (3) United States: Unemployment rate for March 2016 was 5.0%. 2

3 Table 2: Unemployment Rates by Gender, s.a. Percentage of corresponding active population Women Men Q3 Q4 Dec Jan Feb Q3 Q4 Dec Jan Feb OECD - Total Major Seven European Union Euro area Australia Austria Belgium Canada Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey (1) United Kingdom United States previous data. From this date, data by gender are OECD estimates. 3

4 Table 3: Unemployment Rates by Age, s.a. Percentage of corresponding active population Youth (15-24) Prime-age and Older Workers (25+) Q3 Q4 Dec Jan Feb Q3 Q4 Dec Jan Feb OECD - Total Major Seven European Union Euro area Australia Austria Belgium Canada Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey (1) United Kingdom United States previous data. 4

5 Table 4: Unemployment Levels, s.a. Thousands of persons Q2 Q3 Q4 Nov Dec Jan Feb OECD - Total 44,688 41,495 41,934 41,070 40,365 40,253 40,340 39,811 40,041 Major Seven 23,639 21,617 21,915 21,329 20,924 20,925 20,959 20,729 20,808 European Union 24,802 22,871 23,225 22,556 22,016 21,968 21,883 21,710 21,651 Euro area 18,631 17,444 17,699 17,196 16,890 16,858 16,791 16,673 16,634 Australia Austria Belgium Canada 1,322 1,331 1,311 1,345 1,369 1,364 1,386 1,390 1,410 Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France 3,026 3,047 3,048 3,100 3,014 3,005 3,000 2,985 2,993 Germany 2,090 1,950 1,970 1,916 1,872 1,873 1,854 1,833 1,812 Greece 1,274 1,196 1,201 1,190 1,166 1,169 1,150 Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy 3,230 3,033 3,113 2,948 2,955 2,942 2,967 2,972 2,980 Japan 2,359 2,218 2,203 2,227 2,160 2,170 2,210 2,120 2,160 Korea , ,105 Luxembourg Mexico 2,511 2,306 2,319 2,289 2,336 2,238 2,426 2,219 2,262 Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland 1,567 1,304 1,300 1,285 1,236 1,234 1,216 1,202 1,192 Portugal Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain 5,611 5,056 5,187 4,944 4,778 4,765 4,727 4,670 4,642 Sweden Switzerland Turkey (1) 2,860 3,054 3,007 3,115 3,133 3,127 3,092 United Kingdom 1,996 1,741 1,802 1,729 1,645 1,647 1,638 United States 9,616 8,296 8,468 8,064 7,909 7,924 7,904 7,791 7,815 previous data. 5