In March this year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries remained stable at 5.4 percent compared to February, according to new figures published by the OECD. The number of unemployed in the OECD region in March was 34 million people, 1.4 million more than before the crisis in April 2008, but still 15.1 million less than the January 2013 peak.
In March, on month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area remained unchanged at 8.5 percent. In the given month, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in Canada at 5.8 percent, in Japan at 2.5 percent and in the United States at 4.1 percent. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point in Israel to 3.6 percent and by 0.1 percentage point in Mexico to 3.2 percent, while increasing by 0.4 percentage point in South Korea to four percent, all compared to February.