In December last year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries was stable at 6.6 percent in December 2015, 1.5 percentage points below the January 2013 peak according to new figures published by the OECD. The number of unemployed in the OECD region in November was 40.4 million persons, 8.4 million less than in January 2013, but still 7.9 million more than in April 2008, immediately before the crisis.
In December, on month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area declined by 0.1 percentage point to 10.4 percent. In the given month, the unemployment rate was stable in Japan at 3.3 percent and in the US at five percent, rose by 0.1 percentage point in Canada to 7.1 percent and was up by 0.4 percentage points in Mexico to 4.5 percent, all compared to November.