In February this year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries remained stable compared to the previous month at 6.5 percent, 1.6 percentage points below the January 2013 peak, according to new figures published by the OECD. The number of unemployed in the OECD region in February was 40 million people, 8.8 million less than in January 2013, but still 7.5 million more than in April 2008, immediately before the crisis.
In February, on month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area declined by 0.1 percentage point to 10.3 percent. In the given month, the unemployment rate remained stable in the United States at 4.9 percent and increased by 0.1 percentage point in Japan to 3.3 percent and by 0.1 percentage point in Canada to 7.3 percent, all compared to January.