In May this year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries decreased by 0.1 percentage point month on month to 6.3 percent, 1.8 percentage points below the January 2013 peak, according to new figures published by the OECD. The number of unemployed in the OECD region in May was 38.8 million people, 10.1 million less than in January 2013, but still 6.2 million more than in April 2008, immediately before the crisis.
In May, on month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area declined by 0.1 percentage point to 10.1 percent. In the given month, the unemployment rate remained stable in Japan at 3.2 percent and in Mexico at 4.0 percent, both compared to April. In May, the unemployment rate in the United States decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.7 percent and the unemployment rate also fell in Canada, declining by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent, both compared to the previous month.