The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area was 5.6% in September 2007, the same as the previous month and 0.4 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the standardised unemployment rate was 7.3% in September 2007, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.8 percentage point lower than a year earlier. The United States’ standardised unemployment rate for October 2007 was 4.7%, the same as the previous month and 0.1 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 4.0% in September 2007, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point lower than in September 2006.

In September 2007, the standardised unemployment rate in France was 8.6%, the same as the previous month and 0.8 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 8.2% in September 2007, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.4 percentage point lower than in September 2006. For Canada, the standardised unemployment rate was 5.8% in October 2007, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In July 2007, the rate in the United Kingdom was 5.3%, the same as previous month and 0.1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In June 2007, the standardised unemployment rate in Italy was 5.9%, the same as the previous month and 0.9 percentage point lower than a year earlier.