In April this year, the unemployment rate of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries remained stable at 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 6.8 million in April this year to 42.2 million persons as compared to January 2013.
In April, on month-on-month basis, the unemployment rate for the euro area fell by 0.1 percentage percent, with the largest falls (of 0..2 percentage points each) recorded in Italy to 12.4 percent, in Portugal to 13 percent and in Spain to 22.7 percent.
In April this year, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage percent in the US to 5.4 percent and also by 0.1 percentage point in Japan to 3.3 percent, while it remained stable at 6.8 percent in Canada and at 3.7 percent in South Korea. Meanwhile, in the given month, in Mexico the unemployment rate was up by 0.2 percentage points to 4.4 percent, while in Australia it rose by 0.1 percentage point to 6.2 percent. More recent data referring to May this year show that the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point in the United States to 5.5 percent, while remaining stable in Canada, both month on month.