OECD unemployment rate stable at 5.1% in November 2019

The OECD unemployment rate remained stable at 5.1% in November 2019. Across the OECD area, 33 million people were unemployed.

The unemployment rate was also stable in the euro area, at 7.5% in November, with a decline of 0.2 percentage point in Austria (to 4.2%) and a smaller decline (by 0.1 percentage point) in France (to 8.4%), Slovenia (to 4.6%) and Spain (to 14.1%). The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage point in Latvia (to 6.3%) and Portugal (to 6.7%) and more moderately (by 0.1 percentage point) in Belgium (to 5.2%).

Outside Europe, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point in Japan (to 2.2%) and by 0.1 percentage point in Mexico (to 3.5%) and the United States (to 3.5%), while it rose by 0.4 percentage point in Canada (to 5.9%) and Israel (to 3.9%) and by 0.1 percentage point in Korea (to 3.6%). More recent data for December show that the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage point in Canada (to 5.6%) and was stable in the United States (at 3.5%).

In November, the OECD unemployment rate for youth (people aged 15 to 24) decreased to 11.1% (from 11.3% in October), with the largest decreases (by 0.8 percentage point or more) registered in Australia, Japan and Mexico. However, the youth unemployment rate remained above 25% in Greece (in October, the latest month available), Italy and Spain.

OECD Unemployment Rates, s.a

Source: OECD