The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area was 5.5% in November 2007, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.4 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In the Euro area the standardised unemployment rate was 7.2% in November 2007, the same as the previous month and 0.7 percentage point lower than a year earlier. The United States’ standardised unemployment rate for December 2007 was 5.0%, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 0.6 percentage point higher than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 3.8% in November 2007, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point lower than in November 2006.

In November 2007, the standardised unemployment rate in France was 7.9%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.0 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Germany, the rate was 7.9% in November 2007, 0.2 percentage point lower than the previous month and 1.3 percentage point lower than in November 2006. For Canada, the standardised unemployment rate was 5.9% in November 2007, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month but 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In September 2007, the rate in the United Kingdom was 5.2%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In September 2007, the standardised unemployment rate in Italy was 6.0%, the same as the previous month and 0.5 percentage point lower than a year earlier.