In March this year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries fell by 0.1 percentage point year on year to 6.9 percent with a cumulative decline of 1.2 percentage points since the peak reached in January 2013, according to new figures published by the OECD. The number of unemployed in the OECD region indicated a decrease of 6.6 million in March this year to 42.4 million persons as compared to January 2013.
In March, on year-on-year basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area remained stable at 11.3 percent, also moving sideways in France and Germany at 4.7 percent, while it increased by 0.3 percentage points in Italy to 13 percent, and by 0.2 percentage points in Austria to 5.6 percent. On the other hand, in March the unemployment rate saw declines of 0.1 percentage point in Ireland to 9.8 percent, in Luxembourg to 5.7 percent, in the Netherlands to seven percent, in Portugal to 13.5 percent, in the Slovakia to 12.2 percent, in Slovenia to 9.3 percent and in Spain to 23 percent, all year on year.
In March this year, the unemployment rate was also stable in the US at 5.5 percent and in Canada at 6.8 percent, while it decreased by 0.1 percentage point in Japan to 3.4 percent, and by 0.2 percentage points both in South Korea to 3.7 percent and in Mexico to 4.2 percent, all on month-on-month basis. The more recent data referring to April 2015 show that the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point in the United States to 5.4 percent, while it remained stable in Canada, both month on month.