OECD unemployment rate stable in April

The unemployment rate of the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries was unchanged at 7.9 percent in April 2012, around the same rate observed since January 2011, but 2.3 percentage points higher than the level recorded four years earlier, according to new figures published on June 12.
 
In April this year, the unemployment rate for the euro area was unchanged at 11 percent, 3.7 percentage points higher than its all-time low of 7.3 percent recorded in March 2008. In May of the current year, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in the US, up 0.1 percentage point month on month, interrupting the decline recorded since August 2011, while it was stable at 7.3 percent in Canada.
 
The highest unemployment rate in April was in Spain at 24.3 percent, up 0.2 percentage point, followed by Portugal at 15.2 percent, up 0.1 percentage point, and Ireland at 14.2 percent, down 0.2 percentage point, all compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, the lowest unemployment rate was in South Korea, unchanged at 3.4 percent compared to March. Declines in unemployment rates in April were recorded in Israel, down 0.4 percentage points to 6.7 percent, as well as Australia and Hungary, down 0.3 percentage point to 4.9 percent and 10.7 percent respectively, all month on month.