The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that overall unemployment rates in the OECD area remained stable in April.
The OECD said Tuesday that the OECD area unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.0% in April. However, beneath the headline, rates remain widely divergent, and there were changes at national levels.
For example, the unemployment rate hit a new record high in the 3uro area, rising by 0.1 percentage points to 12.2%, which is 1.3 points above its mid-90’s peak. Unemployment rates reached a new peak in several European countries, including France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, it says.
Whereas, rates were significantly below the peaks reached in the second half of 2009 in both Canada and the U.S. In May, Canada’s jobless rate was 1.6 points below its recent peak, and it was 2.4 percentage points lower in the U.S., the OECD says.
It also notes that Japan’s rate was close to its pre-crisis level, and Germany’s rate was significantly below its pre-crisis level.
Overall, there were 48.5 million people unemployed in the OECD area in April, 0.2 million more than in March, and 13.7 million more than in July 2008.