The unemployment rate of the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries was unchanged at 7.9 percent in September 2012, around the same rate observed since January 2011 according to new figures published on Nov 13.
In September this year, the unemployment rate for the euro area has increased for the 16th consecutive month by 0.1 percentage points to 11.6 percent compared to previous month. In September the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in the US, down 0.3 percentage point month on month, while it increased by 0.1 percentage point to 7.4 percent in Canada. According to October data, the unemployment rate in United States rose by 0.1 percentage points to 7.9 percent, while it remained stable in Canada. In September 2012, the unemployment rate in Japan also remained stable at 4.2 percent.
The highest unemployment rate in September was in Spain at 25.8, followed by Greece at 25.1 percent (July), Portugal at 15.7 percent and Ireland at 15.1 percent all compared to the previous month. Meanwhile unemployment rate in Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico and Netherlands remained below 5.5 percent in September 2012.