World – OECD unemployment rate stable in August

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) today announced that the overall unemployment rate stood at 5.3% in August 2018, unchanged compared to the previous month.

Across the OECD, 33.5 million people were unemployed, around one million more than in April 2008.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate declined by 0.1%, to 8.1% in August, with the rate dropping 0.5% in Italy (to 9.7%, following the 0.4% fall in July).

The unemployment rate also fell in Japan (by 0.1% to 2.4%), and was stable in Mexico (at 3.3%) and the United States (at 3.9%). Rates rose, however, in Canada (by 0.2%, to 6.0%) and Korea (by 0.4%, to 4.2%).

More recent data for September show that the unemployment rate declined by 0.2% in the United States, to 3.7%, the lowest level since December 1969, and by 0.1% in Canada (to 5.9%).

The OECD unemployment rate was stable across different age groups in August 2018, meaning that the youth (people aged 15 to 24) unemployment rate, at 11.0%, remained more than twice as large as that for people aged 25 and above (at 4.6%).

For the OECD as whole unemployed youth (7.9 million) made up one-quarter of total unemployment. The OECD unemployment rates for women (at 5.5%) and men (5.1%) were also stable in August.

Source:: http://www2.staffingindustry.com/row/Editorial/Daily-News/World-OECD-unemployment-rate-stable-in-August-47681